Wednesday, January 28, 2009, marks the second annual international Data Privacy Day, which brings together a broad coalition of privacy professionals from both the private and public sectors, as well as corporations, academics and policymakers, with the goal of promoting awareness and collaboration on a variety of data privacy issues.

A wide variety of events celebrating Data Privacy Day has been scheduled throughout the week across the United States, Canada and the European Union. The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security and Intel Corporation are sponsoring a panel discussion on the future of privacy and national security, which will include leading experts from the U.S. State Department, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security and the European Commission, as well as professionals from both the private sector and academia. The discussion will be followed by a reception hosted by Hunton & Williams LLP. This event is open to the public and will take place January 27 from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University.

In addition, on Wednesday the 28th, representatives from Hunton & Williams Centre for Information Policy Leadership, TRUSTe, CDT and various industry groups including the ITAA will join Congressman David Price and Member of the European Parliament Alexander Alvaro to participate in an event focused on government’s role in increasing privacy awareness and trust, from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. on the Hill at the Rayburn Building. That same day, the European Privacy Officers Forum and the International Association of Privacy Professionals will host a cocktail reception following a panel discussion on the future of data protection featuring top EU privacy experts. The reception will take place from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Brussels offices of Hunton & Williams LLP.