News Advisory: World Wide Web Consortium Announces First Demonstration of Web Privacy Framework

For more information, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of
Communications, at +1 617 253 5884.

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World Wide Web Consortium Announces First Demonstration of
Web Privacy Framework

June 21 Event to "Test Drive"  Implementations of Platform
for Privacy Preferences (P3P), A Framework for Informed
Online Interactions

W3C Contact

     Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884

http://www.w3.org/ -- 6 April 2000 -- With the Platform for
Privacy Preferences (P3P) Specification in last call, the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced today it is
hosting an interoperability session in New York City on June
21, to "test drive" P3P and to demonstrate its potential
uses and capabilities to a broad audience of software and
hardware developers, and Web site operators.

The "interop" session is set to start on June 21, 10 a.m.,
in the auditorium of the AT&T Building, 32 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY. 

The W3C is encouraging all interested developers and Web
site operators to participate in the June 21 session.  To
facilitate participation, the W3C is hosting informational
teleconferences for all interested parties later in the
month of April, to outline the session format and
requirements. To date, organizations such as IBM, AT&T, and
others have committed to participate.

"We are excited and pleased that the P3P work has reached
the stage where it can 'come to life,' and we can see how
applications of it can enable individuals to manage their
online information," said Dr. Lorrie Cranor, AT&T
Labs-Research and Chair of the P3P Specification Working
Group.  

"As a privacy advocate, it is important to me that privacy
considerations be  reflected in the design of the Web's
infrastructure and products, and P3P  is an important aspect
of that," stated Deirdre Mulligan, Staff Counsel, Center for
Democracy and Technology and Co-Chair of
the P3P Policy and Outreach Working Group.  

Updates on the teleconferences and event details, including
press access, will be available from the W3C P3P home page,
at http://www.w3.org/P3P/

The Importance of P3P

P3P's design allows Web sites to deliver automated privacy
statements, and makes it possible for users' browsers to
review the statements. Users may then make informed
decisions on how and when their information may be used. P3P
privacy statements are expressed in the W3C's widely
deployed Extensible Markup Language (XML).

P3P technology was created through a consensus process with
representatives from more than a dozen W3C Member
organizations, including CDT, Citigroup, Crystaliz,
Geotrust, IBM, Microsoft, NCR, NEC, Nokia, Phone.com,
PrivacyBank, as well as invited privacy experts from around
the world, including Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's Information
and Privacy Commissioner.


About the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by
developing common protocols that promote its evolution and
ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry
consortium jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer
Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National Institute for
Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France
and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the
Consortium include: a repository of information about the
World Wide Web for developers and users, reference code
implementations to embody and promote standards, and various
prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new
technology. To date, over 400 organizations are Members of
the Consortium.

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Received on Thursday, 6 April 2000 10:32:42 UTC