When the Future of Privacy Forum decided to open up its first regional office, there was debate as to where would be the best location. They could have chosen New York, or perhaps Silicon Valley, areas that may initially pop into your mind when thinking about technology.
FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky, CIPP/US, and leadership at the organization, however, decided to set up shop in a country that has quickly become a premier destination for privacy-related activity. Co-founded with IAPP Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer Omer Tene, the Israel Tech Policy Institute aims to be a place where privacy professionals, lawmakers and academics can work together to tackle pressing privacy issues.
In an interview with Privacy Tech, Polonetsky cited companies such as BigID and contributions made by Israeli academics as some of the reasons why FPF chose Israel to house the new office.
“Israel is in many ways a bridge between the U.S. and Europe,” he explained. “Israel has a privacy law and is adequate under the European Union’s data transfer mechanisms. Israel is also a place where a wide number of companies are testing out new business models, working on AI and ad tech, and is in some ways a hotbed of how can we can have a regulatory model that has comprehensive privacy legislation.”
The institute hopes to gather stakeholders together to produce whitepapers, best practices and consumer education on data privacy topics, while also hosting a variety of events and conferences. Polonetsky said best practice and education materials could help companies comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and other global privacy laws.
“We find when you get really smart technologists together and you ask them to focus on some of the policy problems with some lawyers and privacy people in the room, you really can come up with some thoughtful advances,” said Polonetsky.
When asked about the topics the institute will initially cover, Polonetsky pointed to data mobility, as it will be hosting a roundtable with 40 leading companies in order to discuss data in the car and ensure proper privacy protections are in place for vehicles consistently collecting information. The institute aims to host approximately a dozen events a year. In addition to the data mobility roundtable, the organization will soon hold events on the GDPR and creating policy for the digital environment.
The FPF has co-hosted events with the Israel Privacy Protection Authority previously, and now that the think tank has its Israeli location, Polonetsky hopes the institute can learn from the IPPA as it goes through the process of having its adequacy status reevaluated under the GDPR.
Another goal of the institute focuses on learning more about Israel and getting involved within the community. Polonetsky mentioned the institute will learn from and assist in the