The International Conference ‘Trust, Privacy and Security of Personal Data in the Digital World’ was held on 18th and 19th November 2015 in Sofia. Conference delegates were EU institutions representatives, officials from national data protection authorities from South-eastern Europe and from other EU member states, representatives of Bulgarian institutions, non-government sector, universities and research centres, business companies.
The conference was held under the honorary aegis of Mr. Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor, and Ms. Maya Manolova, Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) and the Bulgarian Association for People Management were organizers of the conference. The event was conducted in partnership with Google, Vivacom, TechnoLogica, Microsoft Bulgaria, Oracle Bulgaria, ePay.bg, Ruvex, the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT).
The conference was opened by Mr. Ventsislav Karadjov, the Chairman of the CPDP, who called the hall to honour the memory of victims of the attacks in Paris and the grief of their relatives before welcoming the attendees.
Mr. Ventsislav Karadjov wished all participants successful and fruitful work during his opening speech. He explained the aim of the Conference to acquaint the participants with the latest developments related to legislative reform and the best international practices, allowing the basic principles for the protection of personal data to be transformed into real, working mechanisms. Mr. Karadjov also read a congratulatory letter from the President of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva.
The European Data Protection Supervisor, Mr. Giovanni Buttarelli, and the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms. Maya Manolova greeted the participants and expressed their best wishes for a successful work. The head of the Bulgarian Association for People Management, as co-organizer of the Conference, also made wishes and expressed her confidence in the usefulness of the event and its success.
The first day of the conference was focused on legislative matters and strategic visions on privacy and data protection in the digital era.
The event began with a presentation by the Chairman of the CPDP, Mr. Ventsislav Karadjov, on the public opinion and raising public awareness about the protection of personal data. Mr. Karadjov presented some preliminary results of a public survey conducted by the CPDP on this topic.
Next, the European Data Protection Supervisor, Mr. Giovanni Buttarelli, presented to the audience the European approach and the latest changes in the area of data protection, as well as the role and strategy of his independent institution in the process.
The Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms. Maya Manolova, talked about the important role of the Omudsman as a defender of citizens` rights and in particular the right to privacy. She outlined a number of common objectives and tasks of the institution of the Ombudsman and CPDP, as a basis for future collaboration.
Mr. Plamen Angelov, director of Legal Affairs, International Cooperation, Planning and Training Directorate in CPDP, explained the viewpoint of the European Commission on the negotiations for reform of data protection, which are in the final stage. Mr. Angelov also presented the position expressed by CPDP regarding certain key aspects of the reform. Ms. Maria Mateva, Member of CPDP, made a presentation on the decisions of the European Court of Justice. Ms. Sonia Yankulova, a Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, presented the standards for protection of citizens` rights in the Court of the European Union. She paid special attention on Safe Harbor case.
In the remaining presentations and reports during the first day dealt with issues related to the challenges facing data protection in the use of cloud services, the development of Internet-based systems in compliance with the principles of ‘Privacy by Design’ and ‘Privacy by Default’, privacy and security at Google were discussed. Various aspects of the balance between the right of access to public information and the right to protection of personal data were presented. The issues of consent in the digital environment, security of young people in Internet, video surveillance and CCTV were discussed from various points of view. The issue of trust, its link to the key and critical aspects of the digital world, whether it is possible and how it can be achieved, were discussed as well.
At the beginning of the second day, a business breakfast ‘Partnership for successful projects’ provided opportunity for informal contacts and exchange of ideas between stakeholders on possible joint projects related to the protection of personal data.
The second day of the conference was devoted mainly to the practices for ensuring security and building trust. The principles of data protection in the digital world were discussed. Special attention was paid to the principle of accountability. Mechanisms for establishing a system for reporting, accountability and transparency in the field of protection of personal data were presented. Mr. Terry McQuay, founder and CEO of the Canadian company Nymity Inc., talked about accountability as an approach for demonstrating the conformity with the General Regulation on data protection and binding corporate rules. The Chairperson of the Europol’s Joint Supervisory Body, Ms. Vanna Palumbo, presented the accountability of large European organizations such as Europol and explained the role of the Joint Supervisory Body. Prof. Tselkov, Member of CPDP, spoke about impact assessments. He presented an on-line application, developed by a CPDP project, for performing an impact assessment. The application can be accessed from the portal of e-Government. IT companies presented their solutions for the protection of personal data in accordance with European rules on privacy. Applicable standards and auditing organizations in the field of protection of personal data and the processes of accreditation and certification according to ISO standards were presented too.
The conference was closed by the Chairman of CPDP, who expressed his gratitude to all organizers, partners, speakers and participants who made it possible for this event to be realized. Mr. Ventsislav Karadjov expressed his hope that everyone who entered the conference room with certain questions and doubts had found their answers and left with more confidence and trust in the system of protection of personal data.
