In the lead up to Data Protection Day on 28 January 2010, European Schoolnet and Microsoft have built on their partnership to launch the Europe-wide awareness campaign on data protection “Think privacy”. Through a multimedia competition on the topic “Privacy is a human right, treat it with care”, young Europeans between the ages of 15 and 19 years are invited to create digital artwork highlighting privacy as a human right and to submit it from 15 October 2009 to 5 January 2010 on the Data Protection Day competition website.

Translated into 23 European languages, the website aims to provide a platform for informing, teaching and learning about online privacy issues. Toolkits targeting teachers, students, but also parents, and proposing classroom activities, golden rules and tips are made available on the website www.dataprotectionday.eu. Three video clips targeting have also been produced to help encourage reflection on privacy and data protection among young people:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

To be eligible for the Data Protection Day competition, entries must be submitted by individuals or small groups from EU member states and EEA countries. From 1 December 2009, the visitors of the project gallery are able to check out and rate the entries. The most popular projects will then be judged by a panel of experts.

One representative of each nominated team in the final round will be invited for a three-day trip to Brussels, all expenses paid, to take part in the Data Protection Day award ceremony on 28 January 2010. At this event the names of the winners will be disclosed and the winning entries will be featured. The winners will be awarded cash prizes for their school or youth club, and will have the opportunity to participate in a film-making workshop.

Last year this event was a great success, not only reflected by a completely full venue (around 120 persons), but also the high level of participation and official support of the European Commission, the Council of Europe and being hosted in the premise of the European Parliament. Microsoft’s efforts in the privacy space received endorsements from: Commissioner Barrot, Ambassador Froysnes, the host of the event, MEP In‘t Veld, as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx. Over 80 video submissions of high quality from more than 14 Member States were received. At peak times, the website was visited by more than 45,000 viewers.

2009 winners from Romania at the European Parliament. John Vassallo, Ambassador Froysenes (CoE), MEP Sophie in’t Veld, Razvan Alexandru Ilinca (1st prize), Vice-President Barrot, Coman Cosmin Bogdan (1st Prize)

This year teachers are also invited to submit any project they have supervised to the Innovative Teachers contest. This event recognises and rewards teachers who practice the elements of 21st century learning in their own classrooms, and incorporate these skills into the student learning environment. Teachers can use the Data Protection Day competition to showcase their own innovative skills, or if they are data protection savvy, submit their project in the content category. For more information about the Innovative Teachers competition, consult www.microsoft.com/education/pil/IT_home.aspx or contact Cecilie Lind, t-ceclin@microsoft.com.

Further information about the Data Protection Day competition:
www.dataprotectionday.eu (launched on 1 October 2009)
Contact: Janice Richardson (Janice.Richardson@eun.org)