e-Forum held the second meeting of the e-Forum Privacy Working Group on 15 April 2010 in Sheffield, UK. The meeting took place as part of an event on ’Yorkshire and the eUnion’, organised by e-Forum and the University of Sheffield, which was held to discuss issues of authentication and privacy, in the context of the European Union’s Ministerial Declaration on eGovernment, approved unanimously in Malmö, Sweden, on 18 November 2009.

The event opened with presentations from Robin Wilton of Kantara, Stephan Heim of Goethe University, Frankfurt, Shaun Topham of e-Forum, and Illesh Datani of the GENOM FP7 project. In the afternoon, the meeting split into two sessions: the e-Forum Privacy Working Group, and a workshop on ’Authentication and joined-up services - from policy to practice’. The focus for both afternoon sessions was the practical implications of eGovernment policy: data protection on one hand, and use of authentication services on the other.

The meeting was well-attended and was notable for lively debates on controversial subjects. Discussions in the e-Forum Privacy Working Group concentrated on two areas: the risk of services, for example for vulnerable groups, tipping over from care into control; and the enforcement of data protection legislation.

More details of the meeting’s outcome will be published in due course.