In the opening session of the 34th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, Conference Executive Committee Chair and Article 29 Working Party President Jacob Kohnstamm introduced this year’s conference. He noted that the topic of this year’s closed session will be profiling. Kohnstamm also indicated that future DPA conferences would focus on the closed session, which typically is comprised of current and former data protection authorities. Among the speakers in the 2012 closed session is Professor Fred H. Cate, Senior Policy Advisor for the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP.
José Clastornik, Executive Director of Uruguay’s National Agency for e-Government and Information Society (AGESIC) and member of the Executive Council of the Uruguayan data protection authority, stated in the opening session that the digital society begins with children. In Uruguay, 100 percent of school children have government-issued laptops that they also use at home. Most also have Internet access. Because technology is central to education, family and civic life, Clastornik indicated that technology must play a crucial role in maintaining privacy.