Join us for the
European Privacy Law Scholars Conference,
hosted at the University of Amsterdam on
24-25 October 2024.
Register here!
Introduction
Following the format of PLSC in the United States, PLSC Europe is a conference for discussing work in progress. In the PLSC format, discussants, rather than authors, present and kick off a discussion on an assigned paper. There are no panels or presentations by the authors and everyone is a “participant”, offering their best questions and insights to stimulate discussion on fresh scholarship. There is no opportunity or obligation to publish connected to the conference.
Our goal is to improve and provide support for in-progress scholarship on a wide variety of issues and topics that touch upon privacy in its broadest interpretation. As such, we very much welcome submissions from different (sub)disciplines, taking alternative angles to privacy and data governance more broadly.
This year’s edition of PLSC Europe is organised alongside the DTDM-Conference “City Data Governance”, which focuses on the impact of the new EU Data Act and the Data Governance Act at the municipality level (more information to be announced soon). With that in mind, we particularly invite people to submit paper abstracts relating to the growing field of data law, including city data governance.
What is PLSC-Europe?
Just like PLSC in the United States, PLSC-Europe is a paper workshop conference. There is no opportunity or obligation to publish connected to the conference. The goal is to provide support for in-progress scholarship related to information privacy law. To do so, PLSC-Europe assembles a wide array of privacy scholars, and a number of academically engaged practitioners (from civil society or public and private sector). Scholars from non-law disciplines – including but not limited to surveillance studies, information and technology studies, critical (legal) studies, humanities, and computer science – are crucial participants in this interdisciplinary field. We follow a format in which a discussant, rather than the author, introduces and leads a discussion on a paper. There are no panels or talking heads; attendees read papers in advance and offer constructive feedback as full participants in the workshop. Having your paper accepted is NOT a requirement for attending and contributing to the conference, and indeed many attendees do not present a paper.
As a paper workshop conference, authors are free to submit a working paper (draft, in progress) for which they seek constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement/evolution. There are no formal requirements for the paper. The paper is then discussed by the discussant and audience, and authors and participants should leave the session inspired by the discussion and with insights that will help them in their own work.
The first PLSC-Europe was held in October 2015 in conjunction with the Amsterdam Privacy Conference, and the second one in May 2017, in conjunction with TILTing Perspectives 2017. Between 2017 and 2019, PLSC-Europe was held yearly, while the PLSC-Europe 2020 was cancelled due the coronavirus measures at the time.
What do we mean by “Privacy”?
The boundaries of privacy as a discipline are dynamic and contested. Although PLSC-Europe emphasises the law of privacy, concepts from other fields play critical roles in our understanding of privacy and in shaping the law. For example, the following topics have received significant attention at previous PLSCs: fundamental rights, algorithmic governance and discrimination, police practices such as predictive policing, political/social/cultural/technical dimensions of data-intensive technologies, and privacy’s unique importance to marginalised populations, among many more.
We are dedicated to incubating scholarship that examines the intersections of technology, law, and policy and its ability to dismantle–or entrench–social hierarchies of all kinds.
Participation Registration
We welcome submissions and registration from all backgrounds, jurisdictions and levels of seniority. Please note that conference participants will be expected to read the papers of the sessions they attend in advance to ensure high-quality discussions. Thus, please plan for sufficient preparation time in advance of the conference. The papers will be made available to conference participants on October 1st, 2024, the latest.
Registration fees are as follows:
- Standard: € 175;
- Students/NGO’s: € 95.
Limited funds might be available for covering travel expenses of some participants. We will prioritise people without institutional backing and coming from outside the EU/US.
Please register via this link.
Schedule and overview of accepted abstracts
You can find the PLSC-Europe 2024 schedule here. The schedule might be subject to minor changes.
The program committee has reviewed the abstracts in a double-blind procedure. You can find an overview of the accepted abstracts here. Workshop versions of the paper are due 1 October 2024. We reserve the right to cancel workshops if the paper draft is not provided on time for meaningful evaluation by participants.
Funding
PLSC-Europe will be funded through institutional funds and registration fees only (standard: € 175, students/NGO’s: € 95). We will not seek corporate sponsorship for the conference.
Practicalities
The conference will be held on 24-25 October 2024 at the Tolhuistuin, IJpromenade 2, 1031 KT in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conference starts at 13:00 on the 24th and ends at 17:00 on the 25th. Information regarding accommodation options can be found here.
Information about accessibility
The conference venue Tolhuistuin has an elevator, and the conference is fully wheelchair accessible. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all attendees. If you encounter any barriers or require assistance during the conference (due to disability or health issues), please do not hesitate to contact us.
Key Dates
Abstracts due: 3 May 2024 Deadline extended to 10 May 2024
Announcement of acceptance: 14 June 2024 New deadline 21 June 2024
Papers due: 1 October 2024*
PLSC-Europe 2024: 24 October (from 13:00) and 25 October 2024
*Authors can submit their papers by sending them to plsc-europe@protonmail.com.
Organizing Committee
| with the support of: Stefanie Boss |
Program Committee
- Rocco Bellanova, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Nataliia Bielova, INRIA
- Franziska Boehm, FIZ Karlsruhe
- Athena Bourka, European Union Agency for Cybersecurity
- Anna Buchta, European Data Protection Supervisor
- Marta Cantero Gamito, University of Tartu
- Jeniffer Cobbe, University of Cambridge
- Laura Drechsler, KU Leuven
- Gloria Gonzalez Fuster, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Natali Helberger, Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Heleen Janssen, Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Margot Kaminski, University of Colorado Boulder
- Eleni Kosta, Tilburg University
- Eva Lievens, Ghent University
- Alessandro Mantelero, Politecnico Di Torino
- Joanna Mazur, University of Warsaw
- Stanislaw Piasecki, Hitotsubashi University
- Neil Richards, Washington University in St. Louis
- Cristiana Teixeira Santos, Utrecht University
- Joris Van Hoboken, Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Michael Veale, University College London
- Sandra Wachter, University of Oxford
- Ari Ezra Waldman, University of California, Irvine School of Law
- Raphaële Xenidis, Sciences Po
- Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius, Radboud University
Contact
Please contact us at plsc-europe@protonmail.com if there are any questions or concerns.