HotPETs 2021

Program

The HotPETs program is on the main conference program page.

Call for Talks

14th Workshop on Hot Topics in Privacy Enhancing Technologies (HotPETs 2021)
Held in conjunction with the 21st Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium
July 16, 2021
General information: https://petsymposium.org/2021

The Workshop on Hot Topics in Privacy Enhancing Technologies (HotPETs) fosters new ideas and spirited debates on privacy. We are seeking engaging, informative and playful 10–15 minute talks on new, unusual, or controversial topics or takes around privacy enhancing technologies (PETs). At the end of an ideal HotPETs talk, the audience should be enlightened, amused, and stimulated to take the discussion further. HotPETs' discussion-oriented format is especially suited to works in progress, unorthodox approaches and new ideas from both within and outside of the typical PETS community.

Short, written talk proposals should be sent by Friday June 25, 2021, to hotpets21@petsymposium.org.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Anonymous communications and publishing systems
• Censorship resistance
• Challenges in deploying PETs
• Cryptographic protocols with application to privacy
• Economics of PETs
• Genetic privacy
• Human computer interaction with PETs
• Impact of PETs in the wild
• Interdisciplinary privacy
• Legal issues surrounding PETs
• Location privacy
• Unethical uses of PETs
• Online surveillance
• Privacy and identity management
• Privacy-enhanced access control and authentication
• Privacy in databases
• Privacy in social networks
• Public policy regulating the use and development of PETs
• Usability of PETs
• User studies of PETs

Deadlines:

Submission Deadline: June 25, 2021
Submission Notification: June 28, 2021

Send submissions or questions to hotpets21@petsymposium.org

Who should submit:

We invite submissions from activists, artists, developers, journalists, lawyers, public servants, researchers, scholars, or anyone who can give a compelling, novel talk about privacy and privacy-enhancing technologies. PETS and HotPETs attract world-renowned experts on the research, development, and practice of PETs, and is an exciting venue for connecting with this community.

Given that HotPETs 2021 will be virtual, we are also happy to seek to accommodate anyone with a novel idea for going beyond a talk, and making use of the audience’s situation behind their computers, such as interactive demos (although the same time limit will apply).

If you are planning to attend PETS for the first time, are someone who works with communities that need or use PETS technologies, or work on challenges that complement PETS' core scholarly work, we especially encourage you to submit! The chairs are always happy to answer questions about the process or expectations.

Some example talks:

• A researcher describing preliminary results from an experiment or study in progress, especially on a novel or newly-relevant topic in privacy or security
• Insights about user experiences and needs from an activist working with PETs "on the ground"
• A software developer describing the process of building or deploying a new privacy-enhancing tool or protocol
• A policy expert discussing interactions between technology and the development of privacy or security-related legislation

What to submit:

In the interest of time and to facilitate a quick selection process, we ask you to submit a title and abstract and short proposal via email. The talk proposal should answer the following questions:

• Why is this a good topic for HotPETs?
• How will you make your talk engaging/entertaining?
• Did you present this work elsewhere? Or has it been accepted elsewhere?

Because speaker submissions are not anonymous, speakers are also encouraged to provide links to additional work (e.g., software, talk videos, websites, papers) within your proposal.

HotPETs has no official proceedings, but we will make the abstracts available on the HotPETs website. Accepted speakers may optionally provide a 2-page extended abstract as a PDF. We recommend that extended abstracts use either this Word template or this LaTeX template. Please only send an extended abstract after you have been accepted.

How to submit:

Please submit your proposals no later than June 25, 2021 by email to hotpets21@petsymposium.org. Your proposal should be included in the email, and not in a separate attachment.

Proposal Review:

The HotPETs chairs will review the proposals and make the final decisions on acceptance. The chairs may request external input or advice to make fully informed decisions.

Unlike PETS, HotPETs is curated rather than peer reviewed. The set of proposals that will be accepted will be chosen as to create a coherent and engaging workshop for speakers and attendees. Within this aim, priority will be given to accepted proposals that provoke interesting discussion, provide unique insight or value to the PETs community, share new and emerging PETs-related research, have not been published before, or have the potential to expand awareness of and participation in the PETS community.

HotPETs Best Talk Award:

The goal of HotPETs is to present talks that are informative, engaging, and even entertaining. To recognize such talks, each year HotPETs concludes with a vote by the audience for its favorite talk. The talk with the most votes wins the Best Talk Award!

HotPETs chairs:

• Michael Veale (UCL)
• Ryan Henry (UCalgary)