FPF in Europe

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Building bridges

Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) has built strong partnerships across Europe through its convenings and training for policymakers and regulators. In Europe, FPF has a focus on maintaining its neutrality in any discourse. FPF is optimistic that social and economic good can be achieved through innovation in data and technology while also respecting privacy and other (fundamental) human rights. FPF’s transatlantic engagement helps regulators, policymakers, and staff at European Union data protection authorities better understand the technologies at the forefront of data protection law. FPF also explains EU data protection and privacy law and the European Court of Human Rights legal framework to make them easily understandable for stakeholders in the U.S. By building this bridge between European and U.S. privacy cultures, FPF hopes to build a common data protection language. We know we can make a difference in the dialogue needed to achieve just that.

Our Team

FPF’s efforts in Europe are led by Dr. Rob van Eijk and Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna. Rob is an established and well-respected leader in the data protection field, and Gabriela leads FPF’s work on global privacy developments and European data protection law and policy. Christina Michelakaki, Vasileios Rovilos, Bianca Marcu, and Katerina Demetzou complete the team.

We believe that the organization should seek to raise awareness and foster debate regarding practical and credible privacy and data protection solutions in the EU. Current laws and rights will always be respected while ensuring new policies and rules can be considered in the data privacy space.
 

EUROPE-FOCUSED WORK

FPF European Council

The European Council is a standalone membership group for companies active in Europe. The Council’s monthly calls include European thought leaders, senior staff at the European Data Protection Board and Council of Europe, and representatives of Member States. Members also have input into FPF activities in the EU.

FPF Resources on the EU AI Act

The EU AI Act was adopted by the Plenary of the European Parliament on March 13, 2024, being among the first comprehensive legal acts enacted in the world that applies to AI systems. It is expected to play a crucial role in global development of AI Governance frameworks. We have a continuously updated list of FPF Resources dedicated to the EU AI Act, as well as to its relationship to the EU GDPR and other privacy and data protection law, available here.

Dublin City University (DCU) Partners with The Future of Privacy Forum

FPF and Dublin City University have announced a new partnership that will see them collaborate on research projects, host joint conferences and workshops, and pursue applications for research opportunities together over the next three years. “Partnering with DCU will allow us to collaborate with some of the world’s leading experts on Artificial Intelligence and other innovative technologies to ensure, privacy and ethics remain a priority for research and new products,” said Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum. “FPF is expanding its presence in Ireland because individuals in the US and EU share common values about both privacy and data protection challenges as well as the opportunities data enables to make our lives better.” […] Read more

Brussels Privacy Symposium

Co-hosted by the Brussels Privacy Hub of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and FPF, the annual Brussels Privacy Symposium is a global convening of practical, applicable, substantive privacy research and scholarship. The Symposium draws on the expertise of leading EU and US academics, industry practitioners, and policymakers to produce an annual workshop highlighting innovative research on emerging privacy issues. Each year, the event features a new theme and brings together thought leaders to discuss complex issues about data protection and privacy. Past themes include identifiability: policy and practical solutions for anonymization and pseudonymization; artificial intelligence and ethics; and the intersection of data protection and competition law.

VULNERA, the International Observatory on Vulnerable People in Data Protection

A project led by the Brussels Privacy Hub and supported by the Future of Privacy Forum, VULNERA aims to promote a mature debate on the multifaceted connotations surrounding the notions of human “vulnerability” and “marginalization” existing in the data protection and privacy domains. The VULNERA International Observatory explores theories of vulnerability, marginalization, and intersectionality, examining how data protection law and policy apply to people in certain contexts that may be vulnerable or marginalized, such as women, children, people on a low or zero income, racialized communities, and people of color, ethnic and religious groups, migrants, LGBTQIA+ and non-binary people, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Learn more on the VULNERA website.