Montreal, October 17-18th 2011

Circulation internationale de l’information: vers une intégration du droit à la vie privée et des technologies de sécurité

Centre de recherche en droit public de l’Université de Montréal
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Catalan Data Protection Authority

Laboratoire de cyberjustice, Pavillon Maximilien-Caron, Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal, 3101 chemin de la Tour, Montréal, Canada

October 17-18th, 2011

Conference program

In November 2010, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published an important document concerning the integration of the right to privacy into twenty-first century public security measures. The text redrew the boundaries of security and personal information. In continuity with this, the objectives of this conference are to consider the stakes raised by the interaction of two fundamental rights in the digital age: security (national security and public safety) and privacy protection. World-renowned experts and public decision-makers from Canada, the United States and Europe will participate in six panels to discuss the stakes.

The first panel will be dedicated to national security, the purpose of which is to defend against threats to the nation. This will lead us to discuss, in the second panel, the emergence of technological innovations at the origin of issues that are as sensitive as they are topical: cybersurveillance and cyberterrorism. The third group of experts will examine the desire of some security organizations, in partnership with the private sector, to privatize security, the sovereign power par excellence. The fourth panel will discuss initiatives, such as the guide prepared by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, designed to help decision makers and those working in the field to take privacy protection into account in their decisions. The fifth panel will look at anthropological and legal changes flowing from security technology. Finally, the conference will end with an analysis and summary of the themes and issues. The participants’ contributions will be published later in a collective work.