In the context of the National Privacy Conference organized by Privacy First and the Dutch Platform for the Information Society (ECP), today the Dutch Privacy Awards have been handed out. These Awards offer a podium to organizations that consider privacy as an opportunity to positively distinguish themselves and want privacy-friendly entrepreneurship and innovation to become a benchmark. The winners of the 2020 Dutch Privacy Awards are Publicroam, NUTS and Candle.
Winner: Publicroam
Safe and easy access to WiFi everywhere for guest users
Most people in libraries, hotels, coffee bars and other public places log onto the local WiFi network in order to save on mobile data and to not rely on mobile networks which indoors may not be available everywhere. Often, WiFi networks operate on the basis of a single, local password, indicated on tables and screens. This makes the digital activities of users vulnerable in more ways than one, with all the ensuing nasty consequences. On top of that, users may not be informed about what the internet provider does with their personal data. It is said that the trade in personal data is by now more profitable than the trade in oil.
These risks were first identified by educational institutions and later by public authorities. This led to the creation of international roaming services like Eduroam and Govroam. But why aren’t such services available everywhere and to everyone? Publicroam set out to change just that and is being welcomed in more and more places. And rightfully so, according to the Privacy Awards expert panel. Several large municipalities and organizations (all libraries in the Netherlands among them) are already connected to Publicroam, or will be soon. In and of itself this facility is not a completely new solution, but the expert panel is particularly impressed by the fact that it can offer great advantages to literally everyone in the country – and possibly beyond – and can therefore have a huge impact on what we’re used to: one account which allows all users to go online automatically and securely, with serious respect for privacy ensured.
It’s possible after all: sound business initiatives that respect privacy; Publicroam is proof of this.
Winner: NUTS
Decentral infrastructure for privacy-friendly communication in healthcare
The NUTS Foundation is an initiative which aims to offer a privacy-friendly solution to identity management and sharing personal data in healthcare environments. It entails that individuals keep control over which healthcare data may be shared between healthcare providers. The NUTS Foundation has laid down its principles in a manifesto which all participants should ascribe to and which states that all software that’s being developed should meet the demands of open source. The result that the NUTS Foundation is striving for is a decentral system which keeps control over personal health information in the hands of the people involved.
The services offered by the decentral network are based on the principles of privacy by design. Identity management solutions contribute to irrefutably establishing the identity of individuals concerned. The decentral approach is in line with the digital healthcare architecture which is currently in the making and is also partly being introduced already. In this way, healthcare information components can use the decentral facilities that are being realized through NUTS.
In the eyes of the expert panel, the NUTS Foundation is a strong example of an initiative which not only looks at privacy issues in a comprehensive way but creates concrete solutions to these issues as well. The open source community that the NUTS Foundation is bringing to fruition, prevents vendor-lock-in in crucial areas of the digital healthcare infrastructure. Emerging digital Personal Healthcare Areas can equally make use of the decentral administrative provisions which NUTS is working towards. The rationale behind NUTS – creating a utility for a crucial part of the digital healthcare architecture – particularly appeals to the expert panel. Expanding the foundation, which currently by and large relies on a single company, will further increase the support for this initiative.
In order to give the NUTS Foundation the opportunity to further realize its ideals and to propagate these more widely, the expert panel has decided to confer this year’s Dutch Privacy Award for business solutions to the NUTS Foundation.
Winner: Candle
Privacy-friendly smart home solution
Candle is a reaction to a risk analysis (privacy by design) to Internet of Things products which unnecessarily connect to a cloud server. It’s a project which concentrates on developing alternative smart systems in and around the home, based on the principle that connection to the internet is unnecessary. Candle started off as a project organization run by students from universities and colleges of higher education as well as by artists’ collectives who aimed at developing practical hardware solutions combined with open source software. Various domestic appliances such as central heating, cameras, CO2 sensors and other applications can easily be connected with one another. A switch is used to make contact with an external network. Users make a deliberate choice when they import and export emails and other data.
Candle shows that it’s very well feasible to create a Smart solution without Big Tech companies and their data driven models. Meanwhile, there are various concept solutions which companies can actually put into practice. In its core, Candle is privacy by design and it opens people’s eyes to alternative smart systems.
"The market for ethical technology will grow in much the same way as the market for biological food has grown enormously. But how do we boost this market? That’s the challenge. The GDPR has ploughed the earth. Now it’s time to sow and entrust this concept to consumers", comments Candle.
Nominations
There are four categories in which applicants are awarded:
1. the category of Consumer solutions (business-to-consumer)
2. the category of Business solutions (within a company or business-to-business)
3. the category of Public services (public authority-to-citizen)
4. The incentive prize for a ground breaking technology or person.
From the various entries, the independent expert panel chose the following nominees per category:
| Consumer solutions: | Business solutions: | Public services: |
| Publicroam | NUTS | (no entries) |
| Candle | Rabobank/Deloitte | |
| Skotty |
During the National Privacy Conference the nominees presented their projects to the audience in Award pitches. Thereafter, the Awards were handed out. Click HERE for the entire expert panel report (pdf), which includes participation criteria and explanatory notes on all the nominees and winners.
National Privacy Conference
The National Privacy Conference is a ECP|Platform for the Information Society and Privacy First initiative. Once a year, the conference brings together Dutch industry, public authorities, the academic community and civil society with the aim to build a privacy-friendly information society. The mission of both the National Privacy Conference and Privacy First is to turn the Netherlands into a guiding nation in the field of privacy. To this end, privacy by design is key.
These were the speakers during the 2020 National Privacy Conference in successive order:
- Monique Verdier (vice chairman of Dutch Data Protection Authority)
- Richard van Hooijdonk (trendwatcher/futurist) and Bas Filippini (founder and chairman of Privacy First)
- Tom Vreeburg (IT-auditor)
- Coen Steenhuisen (privacy advisor at Privacy Company)
- Peter Fleischer (global privacy counsel at Google)
- Sander Klous (professor in Big Data Eco Systems, University of Amsterdam)
- Kees Verhoeven (Member of the Dutch House of Representatives for D66).
Expert panel of the Dutch Privacy Awards
The independent expert award panel consists of privacy experts from different fields:
• Bas Filippini, founder and chairman of Privacy First
• Paul Korremans, partner at Comfort Information Architects and Privacy First board member
• Marie-José Bonthuis, owner of IT’s Privacy
• Esther Janssen, attorney at Brandeis Attorneys specialized in information law and fundamental rights
• Marc van Lieshout, managing director at iHub, Radboud University Nijmegen
• Melanie Rieback, CEO and co-founder of Radically Open Security
• Nico Mookhoek, privacy lawyer and owner of NMLA
• Wilmar Hendriks, founder of Control Privacy and member of the Privacy First advisory board
• Alex Commandeur, senior advisor at BMC Advies.
In order to make sure that the award process is run objectively, the panel members may not judge on any entry of his or her own organization.
Privacy First organizes the Dutch Privacy Awards with the support of the Democracy & Media Foundation and in collaboration with ECP. Would you like to become a partner of the Dutch Privacy Awards? Then please contact Privacy First!
