W3C Workshop: Do Not Track and Beyond 26-27 November 2012

Call For Participation

Thanks to all the attendees for coming; we had a great event and some lively discussion. Minutes and a summary report will follow shortly.

Background

Out of the April 2011 W3C workshop on Web Tracking and User Privacy, W3C chartered its Tracking Protection Working Group, which commenced work in September. The Working Group has produced drafts of Do Not Track specifications, concurrent with various implementations in browsers and Web sites and along side heightened press and policymaker attention. Meanwhile, public concern over online privacy — be it tracking, online social networking or identity theft — remains.

Goals and Scope

This workshop serves as a forum for the W3C membership and the public to discuss the Consortium's next steps in the area of tracking protection and Web privacy. What have we learned from Do Not Track standardization and real-world implementations? Furthermore, undoubtedly support for privacy on the Web platform cannot end with Do Not Track: what should we look at next and beyond DNT?

The workshop is geared to a broad set of stakeholders, including implementers from the mobile and desktop space, large and small content delivery providers, advertisement networks, search engines, policy and privacy experts, consumer advocates, and other parties with an interest in Web tracking, tracking protection and related technologies. We specifically invite participants from industries that might respond to a Do Not Track preference or use DNT and related technologies for user transparency and choice beyond online behavioral advertising: including, for example, email marketing, mobile application development and online social networking.

Topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:

Participation Requirements

All participants are required to submit a position paper by 22 October. W3C membership is not required and there is no fee to participate in this workshop.

The total number of participants will be limited. To ensure diversity, a limit might be imposed on the maximum number of participants per organization. Instructions for how to register will be sent to submitters of accepted position papers. These instructions will also indicate a possible limit on the maximum number of participants per organization.

Workshop sessions and documents will be in English. Position papers, presentations, minutes and the workshop report will be available to the public.

Expression of Interest

To help the organizers plan the workshop: If you wish to participate, please as soon as possible send a message to [email protected] with a short (one paragraph) "expression of interest" stating:

Note: Sending that expression of interest does not mean that you are registered for the workshop. It is still necessary to send a position paper (see below), which then must be considered for acceptance by the Program Committee.

Position Papers

Your paper must meet the following criteria:

Based on a review of all submitted position papers, the Program Committee will select the most relevant and invite the submitters of those papers to the Workshop. From among all accepted papers, the program committee will choose a small number of papers judged most appropriate for fostering discussion, and ask the authors of those papers to give short presentations or participate in panel discussions at the Workshop. After the workshop, presentations will then be published along with a workshop report.

Important dates

Date Event
20 September Call for Participation issued
22 October Deadline for position papers
16 November Workshop program
26-27 November Workshop

To facilitate travel after the US post-holiday weekend, the workshop will begin at 2pm on Monday the 26th, and close by 6pm on Tuesday the 27th.

Workshop Organization

Chairs

Program Committee

Venue

The Workshop will be hosted by UC Berkeley, in the Sutardja Dai Hall, Berkeley, California.

Deliverables

Position papers, agenda, presentations, and a report will all be published online.