Navigating User Privacy in the Decentralized Social Web

06 June 2024

Webinar

Overview

Privacy aspects of connecting and sharing across different social media

Time and Date: 15.00 BST, Thursday 6 June 2024
Duration: 90 mins
Location: Online
CPE Credits: 1.5

 

The decentralized social web, also known as the fediverse, is an open network that lets people connect and share information across independent servers running on the same protocol. The concept of the fediverse is to network together individual social media platforms, such that you can post once on one of them, and then share your post on other services.

It describes the idea that different social media platforms can be both independent and interconnected. For instance, Threads, Meta’s newest app built for public dialogue, recently launched a public-facing fediverse beta experience in some markets where it allows users to opt-in to have their content federated across services built on the ActivityPub protocol.

This new landscape presents unique benefits and challenges. Taking place ahead of the paradigm shift in the social web, this topical webinar will provide an overview of the key privacy considerations in the decentralized social web, taking into account its benefits and challenges.

The speakers will share best practices in ensuring users’ data protection rights, shedding light on how the fediverse philosophy is compatible with the EU GDPR.

These are the key questions we’ll address during the webinar:

  • What is the decentralized social web, its origin, benefits and use cases?
  • What are the key privacy considerations when it comes to an interoperable and decentralized social web? In particular, in terms of user agency, transparency, processing purposes of different data controllers and server governance?
  • How do privacy regulations like the EU GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) apply to decentralized social networks?
  • Can you provide examples of best practices for protecting user data?
  • What role do users play in ensuring their own privacy in the fediverse, and how can they be encouraged to take a more active role in protecting their personal information?

Speakers:

  • Dr Stefan Brink, Executive Director, Wida Digital / Former State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Baden-Württemberg
  • Evan Prodromou, Software developer and Open source advocate, Co-editor of ActivityPub, W3C
  • Willy Mikalef, Partner, Bird & Bird, & Professor of Data Protection and AI Law, Université Paris Saclay and Université Paris V

Chair: Palak Sheth, Head of Privacy Policy, Instagram, Meta

Speakers

  • Stefan Brink - Wida

    Dr Stefan Brink

    Executive Director, Wida Digital

    Stefan Brink was born in Germany in 1966 and studied law in Mainz, Heidelberg, Dijon and Paris.

    After completing his doctorate, Stefan was at the Scientific Service of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Parliament, then as a judge at the Administrative Court of Koblenz and as a research assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court.

    From 2008 to 2016, he was Head of Private Data Protection at the State Commissioner for Data Protection in Rhineland-Palatinate and, since 2012, also Deputy State Commissioner for Freedom of Information in Rhineland-Palatinate. Since then, he has co-edited two standard commentaries on data protection and freedom of information and comments there and in other works on issues of constitutional law, administrative law and legal policy.

    From 2017 to 2022, Stefan was the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Baden-Württemberg and a member of the Conference of Data Protection Commissioners of the German States and the Federal Government DSK.

    Through his commitment as "Freedom Commissioner", numerous publications in the print media, his own podcasts ("Data Freedom") and a video series with well-known discussion partners on the subject of digital freedom ("B.suchtFREIHEIT"), Stefan is one of the best-known data protectionists in Germany.

    In 2022, Stefan was awarded the Data Protection Prize of the Society for Data Protection and Data Security GDD, Bonn. He has been a member of the GDD Board since 2023. He is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the journal Zeitschrift für den Datenschutz ZD (Beck Verlag Munich) and the journal PinG (Privacy in Germany, ESV Verlag Berlin).

    Since January 2023, Stefan has headed the independent institute wida in Berlin (scientific institute for the digitalization of the working world), which accompanies digital change with a view to our civil rights and promotes digital projects. With numerous expert opinions on data protection and digitalization issues, as editor of the leading data protection commentary in Germany and with his podcast "Follow the Rechtsstaat" (with Prof. Niko Härting), he is helping to shape the digital transformation.

  • Evan Prodromou - W3C

    Evan Prodromou

    Software developer and Open source advocate, Co-editor of ActivityPub, W3C

    Evan Prodromou is the current editor of the ActivityPub and Activity Streams 2.0 standards at the W3C. He is the founder of identi.ca, one of the first Fediverse sites, and created the StatusNet and pump.io social network software packages. He is the author of 'ActivityPub: Programming for the Social Web' (O'Reilly Media, Sep 2024).

  • Willy Mikalef - Bird & Bird

    Willy Mikalef

    Partner, Bird & Bird, & Professor of Data Protection and AI Law, Université Paris Saclay and Université Paris V

    Willy Mikalef is a Partner in Bird & Bird’s Data Protection and Technologies & Communications Groups based in Paris. Willy advises some of the world’s most technologically advanced organisations on the implementation of data protection and regulatory requirements, the negotiation of contracts with a strong regulatory component or where he acts for clients in proceedings before the regulators and courts. He is professor of Data protection and AI law at Université Paris Saclay and Université Paris V. He has been recognized in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report in the category “Legal advisers who open doors for pioneering products.

  • Palak Sheth - Meta

    Palak Sheth

    Head of Privacy Policy, Instagram, Meta

    Palak Sheth is the Head of Privacy Policy at Instagram and Threads, where she works with cross-functional teams across the company to make sure that they are developing and building products in a way that is mindful of privacy and public policy concerns. Prior to joining Meta, Palak served as the Managing Director of the Affirmative Litigation Task Force at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (SFCAO). There she and her team developed cutting edge consumer protection cases and managed the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project with Yale Law School. Palak started her legal career in direct legal services at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center focused on family and immigration law. She continued her public interest legal career at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the American Constitution Society (ACS).

 

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