Check out the full program which includes a panel discussion on "Semantic Web technology as a Privacy enabler" with:
Workshop on
![]() PrivOn 2017
Hashtag: #PrivOn2017
Autumn 2015 saw the collapse of the EU-US Safe Harbor Agreement, which resulted in legal uncertainty regarding transatlantic data exchange, while April 2016 saw the ratification of the the new EU Data Protection Regulation, which will come into being in May 2018, after years of discussion involving parliamentarians, lobbyists and activists. On the 28th anniversary of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee sent a widely spread open letter warning of the devastating effect of losing control over personal data and the spread of misinformation, especially on the political scene. This workshop aims to raise awareness that the technologies our community are working on have global societal consequences and, vice versa, our research can be guided by social, economic and legal privacy requirements. This year’s workshop will build on previous workshops by investigating the privacy implications of semantic technology and also exploring how the technology can be used to support privacy preservation.
Bruce Schneier introduces his book “Data and Goliah” by highlighting the fact that: “The powers that surveil us do more than simply store this information. Corporations use surveillance to manipulate not only the news articles and advertisements we each see, but also the prices we’re offered. Governments use surveillance to discriminate, sensor, chill free speech, and put people in danger worldwide. And both sides share this information with each other or, even worse, lose it to cybercriminals in huge data breaches”. The Snowden revelations added fuel to the fire by uncovering details of an Internet surveillance program called PRISM, which showed the NSA had obtained direct access to the systems of nine Internet companies, including Google, Facebook, and Apple. The months that followed included a stream of revelations of other internet surveillance programs such as MUSCULAR, XKeyscore and Tempora, as well as the bulk collection of US and European telephone metadata, and large scale data analytics over the collected data. In an interview with the BBC, Tim Berners-Lee called for the online community to take action: “In front of us are two roads - which way are we going to go?”. Tim Berners-Lee suggested to establish a Magna Carta for the world wide web and to crowdsource a set of values which will be so much part of our lives in a way that they become on a level with human rights. Berners-Lee’s call was answered in the form of a number of collaborative efforts to define a bill of rights for the web that are commonly referred to as “The Web We Want”. The impact of data, technology and privacy is so broad that the discussion should have the title “The Society We Want”. From a legal perspective the landscape has seen considerable changes over the last few years. In December 2015, after nearly four years of negotiations, the European Commission, Parliament and Council finally completed the General Data Protection Regulation, which poses tight restrictions on the use and the flow of personal data and introduces tough penalties - up to 4% of annual global revenue - for those that do not comply. However, there is still a big question mark surrounding the actual implementation, and the tools that are necessary in order to verify compliance with the regulation. 2015 also saw the collapse of Safe Harbour which left many companies in a state of uncertainty concerning transatlantic data exchange. Early 2016 heralded a new framework for transatlantic data flows known as the EU-US Privacy Shield. The agreement imposes obligations on companies in the U.S. to protect the personal data of Europeans and stronger monitoring and enforcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission. The focus has now shifted to the actual implementation of the regulation and the tools required to support it. At the same time there has been an upsurge of awareness of the importance of privacy in hot research topics such as “Big Data” and the “Internet of Things”. In this context, the intersection of issues around privacy and semantic web technologies has become immensely topical and of direct relevance to citizens, researchers and funding agencies. We (the Semantic Web community) are responsible for the conception of technologies that enable large scale integration and mining of personal and public information in all domains of society. We are part of the problem, therefore we should be part of the solution. To date the focus has been on researching specific privacy and security models and frameworks. However, we are “putting the cart before the horse” -- we are proposing technical solutions without fully understanding the societal and legal requirements. This workshop aims to explore and promote discussion around many questions which remain unanswered:
AudienceA number of Semantic Web researchers are actively working on technological solutions for security and privacy of both data and semantic data. However, we explicitly aim to broaden the participation in this workshop, reflecting the growing importance and impact semantic technologies have. Given the broader context of this workshop, it will appeal not only to the usual ISWC audience but but also to other groups. Notably we aim to attract policy makers, lawyers and researchers with an interest in the societal impact of technology. Furthermore we expect interest from a number of different application domains such as healthcare, financial, and ebusiness where privacy is an important topic. Topics Of InterestThis workshop aims to capture the intersection between society, policy and technology, by examining the privacy implications and opportunities of semantic technologies. We welcome submissions on (but not restricted to) the following topics:
Format and Submission ProcedureContributions to the workshop can be made in terms of papers and reports as well as position papers addressing different issues of the stated topics of interest.
Important Dates
Organising Committee
Program Committee
|