Privacy online:
Conference discusses state of the art and need for action  [29.04.19]

16 and 17 May 2019: Conference "Privacy online: What have we learned so far?" at the University of Hohenheim / Aula, Hohenheim Palace, 70599 Stuttgart

What becomes public on the Internet and what remains private is often no longer in our own hands. | University of Hohenheim / Wolfram Scheible | more press photos in print quality

Smartphones, Smart TV, Smartwatches - privacy can no longer be achieved by simply closing the door. After all, we can hardly control what becomes public on the Internet and what remains private.

Conversely, we can influence the privacy of others ourselves, for example by uploading images to Facebook or using apps that access their data. Private or public: In the past, we were all responsible for drawing our own lines. "This has changed fundamentally," emphasized Prof. Dr. Sabine Trepte, media psychologist at the University of Hohenheim and organizer of the conference.

Dr. Tobias Dienlin, also from the Department of Media Psychology, explained this with an example: "If you're meeting a friend, buying a train ticket and going to see him, you'd think it was private," he said. "But if you exchange information via social media, buy your ticket online and use the train's Wi-Fi on the way, then people can draw conclusions about your social status and purchasing power, for example. Based on this, tailor-made price offers can then be generated in the future. You can hardly influence any of this."


New theoretical model of privacy that highlights weak points

Privacy is thus transformed from an individual to an overarching social issue. A new interdisciplinary privacy model created with the participation of the Hohenheim research team will measure and present how private online processes are and what conclusions can be drawn from this. It combines views of privacy from the perspective of computer science, political science, law and communication science and shows behavior patterns and weak points. "With the model, we can better explain the protection needs and thus more precisely identify where risks exist and what protection should look like," explained Dr. Dienlin.

This model, the "Interdisciplinary Privacy and Communication Model" (IPCM), will be presented by the Hohenheim research group on 16 and 17 May 2019 at the conference "Privacy online: What have we learned so far?" at the University of Hohenheim.


Conference on privacy online: Invitation to the public and media

The conference will also provide a comprehensive look at the issue of online privacy: "How can we understand human behavior online? Do we need new legal frameworks to better support people? And is it possible to develop devices that offer both compelling features and effective data protection?" According to Dr. Dienlin, these are questions that will be discussed on these two days.

If you would like to participate in the event, you can register at https://medienpsychologie.uni-hohenheim.de/registration. The participation fee is € 120, for students and persons with a half-time position € 60.

Media representatives are also welcome and are requested to register by email to presse@uni-hohenheim.de. We will be happy to arrange special interview.


Conference program "Privacy online: What have we learned so far?"

You can find the complete conference program at https://bit.ly/2Fb31YZ. Keynote speakers at the conference:

• Prof. Dr. Sonia Livingstone: Professor of Social Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE, UK).
  Prof. Livingstone’s research focuses on, among other things, the media use of children and young people and the resulting risks and opportunities, the media competence of users and legal issues in the digital environment.

• Prof. Dr. Colin Bennett: Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria (Canada).
  
  Prof. Bennett's fields of research include the analysis of surveillance technologies and measures to protect privacy on a national and international level.
  
  
  
• Prof. Dr. Woodrow Hartzog: Professor of Law and Computer Science at Northeastern University School of Law (USA) and Khoury College of Computer Sciences.
  
  Prof. Hartzog's research focuses on topics such as privacy and data protection. He investigates problems that arise when personal information is collected, stored and disclosed on the Internet through new technologies.
  
  
  
  
• Prof. Dr. Christoph Sorge: Saarland University, juris Endowed Professorship of Legal Informatics
  
  Prof. Sorge's research interests include applications of cryptography in network security, data protection through technology as well as legal questions on security and data protection.
  
  

More information

· Conference program: https://bit.ly/2Fb31YZ

· Registration: https://medienpsychologie.uni-hohenheim.de/registration

· Twitter: @transofprivacy

BACKGROUND Project “Transformations of Privacy" The conference "Privacy online: What have we learned so far?” is taking place as part of the project "Transformations of Privacy." In the project, scientists from the disciplines of political science, law, computer science and communication science examine the extent to which the structural change of privacy influences the three areas of freedom, democracy and the information society. The communication science part of the project is the task of the Department of media psychology at the University of Hohenheim. Other project partners are the Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, the University of Bielefeld and the University of Koblenz-Landau. The Volkswagen Foundation supports the project financially. It started on 1 May 2014 and is in its second phase, which will last until the end of March 2021. Project homepage: www.strukturwandeldesprivaten.de

Contact for press:

Dr. Tobias Dienlin, University of Hohenheim, Department of Media Psychology
+49 711 459 24794, tobias.dienlin@uni-hohenheim.de

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