Editor’s note: From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are pleased to have Jon Pincus join us here.
The Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference begins today, at a time when crucial decisions about freedom and privacy are being made across the world. CFP's being held at San Jose State University this year, the first time it's been back to the Bay Area since 2004. We’ve attracted a great mix of participants - consumer advocates, business interests, technologists, policy and legal analysts, and activists - to discuss a dizzying array of issues: smart grids, intelligent transportation systems, mobile technologies and resisting surveillance, cybersecurity, trust, healthcare privacy, robots and civil liberties, social network activism, academic research, and much more.
We're webcasting many of the sessions, including Today's opening session on Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good for Business. In addition to Googlers speaking on panels, Google General Counsel and former CFP chair Kent Walker will give a keynote on Human Rights and the Web Thursday morning.
Carrying on the CFP tradition of participative events, we're going to be developing a Social Network Users' Bill of Rights over the course of the conference, and wrapping things up Friday afternoon with a debate and vote.
Our website has a lot more information, including the program and broadcast schedule. The Twitter backchannels are #cfpconf and #BillOfRights.