Even as the entire D.C. privacy world holds its breath for the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2022 next week (and hopefully stores up some extra sleep!) life goes on in the nation’s capital. A red fox caused quite a stir this week after (allegedly) biting multiple pedestrians around the Capitol grounds. In true D.C. form, the captured canid appeared to issue a defiant press release via its official Twitter account. Undoubtedly, a vulpine NFT is not far behind. Here's what’s happened since the last roundup:

• The U.S. State Department launched its new cyberspace and digital policy bureau. The move is the culmination of years of work to centralize multiple workstreams in the diplomatic agency. The bureau’s stated goal will be to “address the national security challenges, economic opportunities and implications for U.S. values associated with cyberspace, digital technologies and digital policy.”
• Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the next U.S. Supreme Court justice. Stephen Breyer will finish out the Court’s current term, and Jackson will start hearing cases in October. What could Jackson mean for data privacy? Watch this space!
• Apple dropped out of the State Privacy and Security Coalition. SPSC is one of numerous trade groups pushing for consistent privacy protections in the U.S. through a federal law. Apple’s decision comes after reporting last month it had drawn attention to SPSC’s efforts to characterize the recently passed Utah privacy bill as a model for other states. Apple’s CEO will be a featured keynote at the Global Privacy Summit (see below for livestream link). As 9to5Mac reports, Tim Cook “is expected to once again reiterate Apple’s belief that privacy is a ‘fundamental human right.’”
• What is the future of privacy at NIST? In a helpful blog post, the National Institute of Standards and Technology published a “peek” into the past and future of data privacy work at the agency. This year marks NIST’s 50th anniversary as the United States’ official laboratory for standards and measurements. Current privacy developments include:
  • The Privacy Workforce Public Working Group, a multistakeholder group mapping tasks, knowledge and skills onto the NIST Privacy Framework.
  • Differential privacy guidelines, based in part on an earlier blog series.
  • The Privacy-Enhancing Cryptography Project.
  • The U.S.-U.K. prize challenge on privacy-enhancing technologies.

• Politico published a brief profile of the FTC’s unorthodox chief of staff, Jen Howard. Though it begins with a description of Howard’s “irreverent” jewelry choices, the article also reports on the perceived dynamics the new chief of staff has brought to the Commission, with quotes from detractors and defenders alike. For more on the future of the FTC, tune into the livestream of Chair Lina Khan’s much-anticipated keynote address at the Global Privacy Summit.

Upcoming happenings:

• IAPP’s Global Privacy Summit 2022 dominates the D.C. calendar next week. The conference kicks off Monday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. EDT with the first round of all-star keynotes and continues through April 13.
• Even if you are not in D.C., you can watch selected back-to-back keynotes streamed live through these links:
  • April 11 at 5:30 p.m. EDT, Amy Gajda and Lina Khan
  • April 12 at 9 a.m. EDT, Tim Cook, Zahra Mosawi, and Didier Reynders
  • April 13 at 10 a.m. EDT, Brad Smith, Neil Richards, Julia Angwin, and Cecilia Kang
  • April 14 at noon EDT, Daniel Solove debate with Jane Bambauer: State Privacy Laws and the Uniform Personal Data Protection Act

Please send feedback, updates and animal antics to cobun@iapp.org.