European Privacy Day 2012

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Time goes by, yet discussions about privacy are still alive and kicking in 2012 and take place in variety of contexts.

2011 was a year with privacy discussions about Facebook, use of hacking by journalists, use of intelligent CCTV by police forces, use of twitter during urban riots, face recognition, smart houses and smart viewing of houses, and ICT for active ageing. 

Declarations and writings stating that ‘privacy is dead’ confirm the urgent need for more debate about these issues.

When pondering over all these online and offline developments, the first impression is not only that many facets of privacy are at stake, but that attitudes and responses of people are evolving. Despite all the declarations on the death of privacy, 2011 has shown that people do care about privacy both offline and online and are highly imaginative in the ways to strike back at these developments.
On 28 January 2012, Europe celebrates its European Privacy and Data Protection Day. A whole day of events, organised by governmental and other institutions and civil society, which will draw the attention to the value privacy and data protection have in our societies.

This website introduces the reader to several prominent privacy voices and contains an overview of the activities that are organised in Europe on the occasion of European Privacy and Data Protection Day. We believe that there are good reasons to make this Privacy and Data Protection Day a success. There are many burning issues occupying the minds of those that care for this world: climate change, growing inequality, financial crisis are only some examples. Citizens striving for more autonomy are not necessarily immune for the concerns about these issues. Celebrating the idea of privacy is not turning away from other problems. As citizens of a free society, we have a duty to look critically at our world. Celebrating privacy and the autonomy of the individual is a way to articulate valuable objectives from the standpoint of the individual, but also to engage as citizens in important debates of today's societies and to check on power accumulated by public and private actors.