Nowadays electronic communication networks and digital services are an essential part of an increasing number of everyday commodities. In the era of automated profiling and electronic surveillance, citizens face a serious threat against their right to privacy and informational self-determination, especially when using the internet and mobile services. The lack of transparency regarding the functionality and interconnection of such services increases the risk of uncontrollable processing of personal data. However, the distributed implementation of networks and services offers also the opportunity for new Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) that could support users’ needs while safeguarding their personal data. Although these technologies are widely discussed in the research community, their mere existence is often unknown to the general public. Hence PETs need the support of policy to find their way into IT products. The terms privacy/security by design and by default have found their way into legal and policy texts; however, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding their implementation into services. 

In light of the above, the European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) and, as local host, the University of Luxemburg organize a two-day event with the objective of providing a forum to academia, industry and policy makers. This year, the main focus of the Annual Privacy Forum will be on the privacy of electronic communications.