RightsCon Tunis 2019

Data Law and Blockchain: technical (in)compatibility (University of São Paulo / Pinheiro Neto Advogados)

Description: Blockchain is one of the most relevant technology in recent times, and its application goes far beyond cryptocurrencies and financial services. Such technology can be used for contract registration, creation of virtual identities, intelligent devices, among others relevant business and opportunities. On the other hand, regarding legislative innovation, Data Law such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) aim to regulate the processing of personal data and provide rights and guarantees to data subject. In this scenario, we intend to analyze the challenge between the possible technical incompatibility between blockchain and the so-called "right to be forgotten". Thus, we intend to: (i) understand what blockchain technology is; (ii) deal with data erasure and its prediction in GDPR, in the end, (iii) analyze the possible technical incompatibility between both and the possible solutions.

Speaker: Caio César de Oliveira

The Global Data Protection Index: discover our concept (Access Now)

Description: The objective of the session is to present the idea of Access Now Global Data Protection Index which will map and rate data protection law all around the world. In this session, participants will be introduced to the concept, scope and focus of the project and a draft rating system before being invited to provide feedback to the process, point to existing resources and suggest modifications to the criteria.

Speaker: Estelle Masse

GDPR For Citizens (Electronic Frontier Finland, Open Knowledge Finland, ICANN NPOC)

Description: The whole focus of the session is getting people to take our free course on the essential data protection principles of the GDPR and give people clear examples of how to exercise their rights. By completing the whole course, you may also want to be part of a record that lists the number of violations that people encounter with particular service providers, for example. People can have their data erased from aggressive direct marketers databases and object to processing of their personal information - most of us simply don’t know how to go about it. I will quickly run through the essential rights of the GDPR for citizens and introduce the course and how to use it in our platform that is specifically designed for MOOCs on mobile phones. If the people don't know how to use their rights, GDPR will not be enforced they way it was supposed to. The more people exercise their rights, the more we will help in forming meaningful precedents of the privacy violations, that are still rampant in all European countries.

Speaker: Raoul Plommer

The transparent passenger – PNR mass data retention and privacy (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte - GFF)

Description: The EU Passenger Name Record Directive obliges air carriers not only to process but also to transfer passenger name record (PNR) data of passengers of EU flights to national security authorities. This set of PNR data includes information such as name, credit card information, travel history or fellow travellers. After having received the data, national authorities are obliged to match them with possibly suspicious flight patterns. The Directive’s approach results in mass surveillance, because it affects all passengers, even when they are not suspected of anything, let alone charged with a particular crime. Our ultimate goal is for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to declare the aforementioned Directive incompatible with EU primary law and thereby null and void. In our Lightning Talk, we would like to share with the RightsCon community both the process of how we conceptualized this litigation project in cooperation with several European partners and the significance which PNR data retention holds for privacy rights throughout Europe. Moreover, we would like to discuss how this case might serve as an example of how to collectively and efficiently combat Europe-wide threats to human rights in the future.

Speaker: Lea Beckmann and Ulf Buermeyer