It is Data Privacy Day and I'm sitting in Booth Auditorium at the UC Berkeley Law School where I'm attending the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) privacy workshop. Today's event is the second in a series of three public roundtables that the FTC is hosting this year as it explores the privacy challenges posed by ever-changing technology and business practices.

While I will have much more to add to this announcement going forward, I wanted to take a moment to let you know that we are launching a new conference/project called pii. The letters stand for privacy, identity and innovation, but we are using the acronym because we think -- like privacy itself -- it will mean different things to different people.

Whether you are a privacy rights advocate or you believe privacy is indeed dead, pii will offer a comprehensive look at how all of our information is being created, shared, controlled, collected, stored and secured, how that is likely to change in the future and what it means for individuals, organizations and governments.

The conference will take place at the Seattle waterfront on August 17 & 18, and we'll be planning a number of activities before and after the conference for participants who want to be part of our larger project to look at how privacy, identity and innovation are interrelated.

We'll be launching a new Web site soon that will offer more specifics on the program, how you can get involved with pii and, of course, how to register for the conference in August. 

I will also share updates via my Twitter account, @TechPolicy, and I welcome anyone who shares our curiosity and passion for these topics to contact us with questions, suggestions and comments.

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Tags: FTC, identity, innovation, Internet, pii, privacy

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has already held over 35 workshops as part of its work on the national broadband plan, will be hosting a January 26th workshop on broadband's role in minority radio. The free event will take place from 9:00am to 12:00pm EST in D.C. and will also be available via the Web. To get more details and to register for the Webcast, visit the agency's Broadband.gov site.

The following day, January 27th, the FCC's Media Bureau is convening a meeting from 9:00am to 1:00pm EST to examine how FCC media ownership rules affect minority and female ownership. There will be two panels and both sessions will be available online at FCC.Gov/live for those who can't attend in person (unlike the January 26 workshop, no registration is necessary to attend).

The Commission also released the preliminary agenda for its next open commission meeting in D.C. on February 11th. Topics it currently plans to address include the national broadband plan and a proposal for schools that receive funding from the E-Rate program to allow members of the general public to use the schools' Internet access during non-operating hours.

Update: The FCC launched a new Future of Media blog, and it's inviting the public to comment on a series of questions the Commission is exploring as it prepares a report on the future of media and information needs.

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Tags: broadband, FCC, Internet access, media ownership, national broadband, radio