Adopt PETs on data protection day!

This date marks the anniversary of the Council of Europe's Convention 108 on the protection of personal information, the first legally binding international law in the field of data protection.

Time to adopt PETs

On this occasion, ENISA takes the opportunity to share some of its work in the field of data protection and privacy, in particular relating to privacy enhancing technologies (PETs).

The agency with its new poster ‘Time to adopt PETs’ promotes awareness and the uptake of PETs by internet and mobile users following the simple approach ‘reduce, protect, detect’. PETs refer to technologies/tools that can support users in safeguarding their privacy and personal data, especially when using online applications and services. Examples of PETs include tools that can offer protection against online tracking, as well as tools providing encryption and secure messaging functionality.

A strengthened legal regime for the protection of personal data

Furthermore, ENISA welcomes the new General Data Protection Regulation modernising the current legal framework, especially in relation to the processing of personal data in the digital era. This development is an important step forward for enhancing privacy protection of EU citizens and for promoting privacy and security as core aspects of the European industry. ENISA’s work in the field comprises in translating legal obligations into technical solutions, in particular with regard to the security of personal data, privacy and data protection by design and PETs, personal data breach notifications, as well as mechanisms for user empowerment (transparency and control) in digital environments.

Relevant studies available online by ENISA:

• Online privacy tools for the general public: towards a methodology for the evaluation of PETs for internet and mobile users
  The study provides a review of existing web portals promoting the use of online privacy tools by the general public, proposes a methodology for evaluating the reliability and usability of online PETs, and presents a pilot evaluation and comparative presentation of PETs in the area of anti-tracking browser extensions.

• Privacy by design in big data: An overview of privacy enhancing technologies in the era of big data analytics
  The study aims at highlighting privacy as a core value of big data by providing an analysis of the privacy by design principles in the big data value chain and presenting a set of PETs that are particularly applicable in big data analytics.   

• Privacy and data protection by design
  The report contributes to bridging the gap between the legal framework and the available technological implementation measures by providing an inventory of existing approaches, privacy design strategies, and technical building blocks of various degrees of maturity from research and development.

• Readiness analysis for the adoption and evolution of PETs
  This report aims at developing a methodology that allows to compare different PETs with regard to their maturity, i.e., their technology readiness and their quality concerning the provided privacy notion.

• Status of privacy and NIS course curricula in EU Member States
  The report identifies the gaps between available training courses, certifications and NIS education needs (with particular emphasis on online privacy) and proposes further actions in the field.

• Study on cryptographic protocols
  The report focuses on the current status in cryptographic protocols and encourages further work by researchers and organisations in the field.

• Algorithms, key size and parameters report 2014
  The study is a reference document providing a set of guidelines to decision makers, in particular specialists designing and implementing cryptographic solutions for personal data protection within commercial organisations or governmental services for citizens.
• ENISA is organizing Annual Privacy Forum, the Call for papers for the 2016 edition may be consulted here.
  
  

Quiz by ENISA: NIS quiz for all on privacy and general security
ENISA ‘Time to adopt PETs’ poster
ENISA cyber security awareness material is available online here

About ENISA: ENISA works closely together with members of both the public and private sector, to deliver advice and solutions that are based on experience. This includes, the pan-European Cyber Security Exercises, the development of national Cyber Security Strategies, CERTs cooperation and capacity building, but also studies on secure cloud adoption, addressing data protection issues, privacy enhancing technologies and privacy on emerging technologies, eIDs and trust services, and identifying the cyber threat landscape. ENISA also supports the development of the European Union (EU) policy and law on matters relating to network and information security (NIS), thereby contributing to economic growth in Europe’s internal market.

For media and press enquiries please contact press@enisa.europa.eu, Tel: +30 2814 409576

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