An international conference on the theme Online Privacy: Consenting to Your Future will be held at Hilton Malta on March 20 and 21 as part of the EU-funded Consent project in which the University is a partner.

The project has been examining how consumer behaviour and commercial practices are chang-ing the role of consent in the processing of personal data.

One of the key changes in social trends and lifestyles over the past few years has been that many consumers have moved online. However, while popular user-generated online services depend to a large extent on their users disclosing substantial amounts of personal data, the way they obtain consumer consent is questionable.

The Consent project team carried out an analysis of the current commercial practices, legal position and consumer attitudes to user-generated content services, identifying criteria for fairness and best practices, and created a toolkit for policy makers and corporate counsel to address problems identified in the analysis. Some of the project’s key findings will be presented at the conference.

Leading policy makers, consumer representatives and academics working in various fields related to privacy regulation will address the conference and take part in the panel discussions.

Speakers include European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding, Marc Rotenberg, Peter Hustinx, Lara Ballard, Sophie Kwasny, Nevena Ruzic and Max Schrems.

Registration costs €195, including buffet lunch, coffee breaks, snacks and conference material.

To register and for more information about the conference visit www.onlineprivacyconference.eu. For information about the project visit http://consent.law.muni.cz .