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The Federal Trade Commission announced its agenda for PrivacyCon, a first-of-its-kind FTC event featuring 19 presentations of original research regarding important consumer privacy and security issues by leading academics from universities and think tanks from around the world .

The conference, which will take place in Washington on Jan. 14, 2016, will also include discussion sessions about the policy implications of the research being conducted with thought leaders from academia, research, consumer advocacy, and industry.

FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will provide opening remarks, and Commissioner Julie Brill and newly appointed Chief Technologist Lorrie Cranor will also speak at the event.

The day will be divided into five major topic areas: the current state of online privacy, consumers’ privacy expectations, big data and algorithms, the economics of privacy and security, and security and usability. Within each topic area, researchers will present new research on the topic, which will be followed by a short discussion session addressing the issues more broadly.

Original research presented at PrivacyCon will address such issues as how consumers’ understanding of privacy online squares with the options about their privacy that they are provided, tools to analyze the way consumers’ information is shared and used online, and the effectiveness of programs to track security vulnerabilities. The researchers represent a number of institutions, including universities from the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Australia.

The event will take place at the FTC’s Constitution Center conference facility, located at 400 7^th St, SW, Washington, DC, and is free and open to the public. A full version of the agenda, including links to abstracts of the research being presented, is available online. The event will also be available via live webcast.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).  Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.