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Our first issue of the Advisor every year has always been about looking forward into the New Year. What will change in the privacy world? What new laws and regulations will challenge privacy pros? What major media stories—whether breaches, emerging technologies, or boundary-stretching business models—will strain our current tools for managing data? There are always more questions than can possibly be answered.

Next month’s issue will be packed with the predictions of privacy pros and luminaries. Until then, permit me to gaze into the cloudy crystal ball of privacy, fully understanding that predictions are always a risk—and frequently prove embarrassing when viewed with the clarity of hindsight.

It is difficult to argue that privacy has only grown in significance in the past 12 months. And, looking forward, we have to assume that the issues we grapple with daily will only continue to expand. In 2010, we can expect further discussions of the EU Data Protection Review, an FTC staff report on the heels of the “Exploring Privacy” roundtable series, and an oft-predicted privacy bill in Congress. But we knew these things already. What else might challenge us in 2010?

Make sure you keep your eyes on the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide the Quon case in the first half of the year. This case has the potential to throw asunder the status quo of employee privacy in the U.S. The case deals with the murky intersection of employer-provided technology and the reality of a converged work/home lifestyle. The legal and social aspects of Quon make the privacy issues particularly fascinating.

Watch for a proliferation of symbols, icons, and novel notices to try to communicate data practices to the marketplace. Privacy pros are doing some incredible work in this space—with the Future of Privacy Forum and others pushing our current thinking about notice in helpful new directions. It is unclear which, if any, of these ideas will gain traction. But it is certainly encouraging to see the level of innovation.

Be prepared for continued acceleration in the debate over consumer privacy online. Many regulators around the world—including the FTC, Canada’s privacy commissioner, and various EU data protection authorities—are continuing to look closely at social networking, online video postings, street imaging services, and behavioral advertising. Some of these debates are near a breaking point, where new standards will emerge or business models will be forced to change. More aggressive enforcement in this space is certainly a possibility as well.

Expect continued growth in the size and sophistication of the privacy profession. In 2009, the IAPP grew 20 percent in membership. When considered against the backdrop of the economy, that growth is nothing short of astounding. In 2010, as the market begins to loosen up, we can certainly expect that more privacy pros will be hired to respond to the myriad issues our profession manages.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that, in 2010, the IAPP will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. Hard to believe, but our organization has been around for a whole decade! So my safest prediction is that the IAPP will be gathering members around the world to recognize how far we have come as a profession in these few years. We certainly have a lot to celebrate.

J. Trevor Hughes, CIPP
Executive Director, IAPP

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