Call For Participation
A Workshop report is available.
Background
As part of the ongoing larger online privacy debate, the discussion about online tracking (for example for behavioral advertising) and possible countermeasures has picked up a lot of momentum. This discussion has been reflected in policy papers on user privacy on the Web from the United States Federal Trade Commission and Department of Commerce.
Several vendors are offering measures that are intended to permit users to opt out of this tracking, or to prevent tracking by Web sites that are known to engage in these practices. For example:
- Microsoft announced the inclusion of anti-tracking technology based on tracking protection lists in IE9. This technology was submitted to W3C (see staff comment).
- Mozilla announced support for a "do not track" header.
- Google announced a browser extension that permits users to persist opt-out cookies.
Similar technology is deployed in a number of plugins for various browsers, including, for example, NoScript, AdBlock plus, TACO, and PrivacyChoice.
As a result of its 2011 strategic planning exercise, the W3C is reinforcing efforts in the Web privacy space, beyond its current involvement in the European PrimeLife project.
Goals and Scope
This workshop serves to establish a common view on possible Recommendation-track work in the Web privacy and tracking protection space at W3C, and on the coordination needs for such work.
The workshop is expected to attract 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, experts in consumer protection, and other parties with an interest in Web tracking technologies, including the developers and operators of Services on the Web that make use of tracking technologies for purposes other than to behavioral advertising.
Topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:
- Whether a do not track proposal is advisable, and whether there are other means that would achieve the same or similar ends;
- the benefits and challenges of various browser-based approaches, including tracking protection lists and a do not track user preference;
- additional approaches toward better user privacy in the face of frequent online tracking.
Participation Requirements
All participants are required to submit a position paper by 25 March 2011. W3C membership is not required to participate in this workshop.
Note: Paper submission is closed at this point.
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 public.
There is no fee to participate.
Expression of Interest
To help the organizers plan the workshop: If you wish to participate, please as soon as possible send a message to team-privacyws-submit@w3.org with a short (one paragraph) "expression of interest" stating:
- that a representative from your organization plans to submit a position paper
- whether you want to send one or two participants
- whether or not you wish to make a presentation
Note: Sending that expression of interest does not mean that you 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:
- explains your interest in the Workshop
- aligned with the Workshop's stated goals as outlined above.
- 1 to 5 pages long
- formatted in HTML/XHTML, PDF, or plain text
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 about them at the Workshop. After the workshop, those presentations will then be published on the workshop home page.
Important dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 3 March 2011 | Call for Participation issued |
| 25 March 2011 | Deadline for position papers |
| 15 April 2011 | Program released |
| 28 April 2011 | Workshop |
Workshop Organization
Workshop sessions and documents will be in English.
Chairs
- Lorrie Faith Cranor, Carnegie Mellon University
- Thomas Roessler, W3C
Program Committee
- Adrian Bateman, Microsoft
- Kasey Chappelle, Vodafone
- Alissa Cooper, CDT
- Peter Eckersley, EFF
- Alex Fowler, Mozilla
- Deirdre Mulligan, School of Information, UC Berkeley
- Colin O'Malley, Evidon
- Jonathan Mayer, Stanford University
- Jules Polonetsky, Future of Privacy Forum
- Christine Runnegar, Internet Society
- Wendy Seltzer, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
- Rob Shavell, Abine
- David Singer, Apple
- Chris Soghoian, Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Indiana University
- Ashkan Soltani
- Peter Saint-Andre, Cisco
- Andrew Steingruebl, Paypal
- Hannes Tschofenig, Nokia Siemens Networks
- Mischa Tuffield, Garlik
- Rigo Wenning, W3C
- Alma Whitten, Google
- Shane Wiley, Yahoo!
- Craig Wills, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Harlan Yu, CITP, Princeton University
Venue
The Workshop will be hosted by Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. See the very detailed venue information on Center for Information Technology Policy page.
Deliverables
Position papers, agenda, accepted presentations, and report will also be published online.