Electronic communication networks and interconnected digital services have become ubiquitous as they have permeated every fold of everyday life. At a time when automated profiling and electronic surveillance have become commodities, citizens and businesses alike may face limitations and threats when they have personal data processed or seek to protect their privacy on the internet or when using general communication services. Limitations in the transparency, the functionality and interconnectivity of online and communication services increases the risk of having personal data processed out of control of any accountable person or organization or simply becoming exposed to all sorts of privacy threats.

The recalibrated legal framework in the EU as manifested by the promulgation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is key in an effort to better control the processing of personal data. Additionally, the forthcoming Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications is expected to give new impetus to the way privacy is protected in electronic communications. Even the best legislative efforts cannot keep up to speed with the pace of innovative technology and business models that challenge the way personal data is processed and privacy is protected across the EU and beyond; therefore, examining what is at stake and where threats thereto originate from becomes of paramount importance.

In the light of those regulations, DG CONNECT, ENISA and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) are organizing Annual Privacy Forum (APF) 2018.

In APF 2018, we invite papers presenting original work on the themes of data protection and privacy and their repercussions on technology business, government, law, society, policy and on law enforcement. An inter-disciplinary approach is high in demand to contribute to bridging the gap between research, business models and policy, much like proposing new models and interpretations are.

Submission can be made through Easychair at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=apf20180

Research - Opinion Papers

APF 2018 seeks contributions from policy makers and implementers, Data Protection Authorities, industry, consultants, researchers, NGOs and as well as civil society. Opinion and interpretation papers are expected to reflect the views of the author(s). Submissions can be up to 8000 words long, excluding bibliography and appendices. Both research and opinion papers should deal with at least one of the following aspects:

• Implementation aspects:
  o Privacy "by design" and "by default" paradigms
  o Adoption of PETs in contemporary digital services
  o Technical solutions for data portability and procedural issues
  o Technical solutions for preventing online and mobile tracking
  o Technical solutions for the enforcement and the implications of the subject’s right, e.g. right to erasure, access and correction
  o Information and consent in online environments: practical solutions and implementations
  
• Modelling of data protection and privacy requirements, such as:
  o Machine readable representations and automatic evaluation of policies
  o Enabling transparency: technological and organizational challenges
  o Aspects of privacy in artificial intelligence
• Non-technical aspects of privacy
  o Privacy education, reliability and usability of PETs
  o Legal, technical and organizational aspects of privacy and law enforcement
  o Ethical conditions to the applicable framework
  o Privacy considerations in autonomous systems
• Trust services for the protection of personal data:
  o Privacy aware trust services (i.e. electronic certificates, signatures, etc.)
• Sustainable business models and trustworthiness assessment for privacy friendly online services
  o Aspects of privacy impact and risk assessment
  o Security measures for the protection of personal data
  o Data protection certification
  o Economics of privacy and personal data
• Issues of third countries interest
  
  

Student Papers

In order to encourage participation of young researchers, the submission of papers by students is encouraged. These papers will be treated as thoroughly as full papers, but can be shorter (up to 4000 words) and reflect novel thinking that might not have been fully elaborated just yet.

Short Papers

In addition to student papers, short papers are invited as this call is open to anyone who has a sketch of an idea, opinion or a call for collaboration. Short papers should be up to 4000 words and should not overlap with work published elsewhere.

Review and Publication

Submissions of original work are invited; papers must not overlap substantially with work already published or simultaneously submitted to a journal or a proceedings bearing venue. Submissions must be drafted in English and they need to comply with the Springer LNCS style guide, which can be found here and here. 

All submissions will be thoroughly reviewed by our PC members. We aim at minimal 3, average 4, reviews per paper. Authors must submit their papers according to conditions and within the deadline communicated on the conference web site.

Pre-proceedings will be published by the ISMS Forum Spain and made available at the conference.

Post-proceedings will be published by Springer LNCS.

Submission can be made through Easychair.

Programme Chairs

Manel Medina, UPC (general chair & local chair)
Nikolaos Tsouroulas, Telefónica (general chair & local chair)
Kai Rannenberg, Goethe University Frankfurt (co-chair)
Erich Schweighofer, University of Vienna (co-chair)
Andreas Mitrakas, ENISA (co-chair)

Important dates