CPDP (“Computers, Privacy and Data Protection”) is a non-profit platform founded in 2007 by research groups at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Université de Namur, and Tilburg University, later joined by INRIA and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. Today, CPDP is carried by 20 academic centres of excellence from the EU, the US, and beyond. Based in Brussels, CPDP has become a world-leading multidisciplinary conference, convening a global community across research, policy, practice, civil society, and technology to engage with cutting-edge developments in privacy and data protection.

CPDP exists to strengthen rigorous, independent, and inclusive debate on privacy and data protection in a rapidly changing digital society. We create a space where competing positions can be compared, tested, and refined—grounded in fundamental rights and broader digital rights, and attentive to the real-world consequences of data-driven technologies for governance, accountability, and democratic life. 

Each year in Brussels, CPDP convenes a uniquely broad community: academics and researchers, regulators and policymakers, lawyers and practitioners, civil society organisations, and industry and technology actors. Bringing these perspectives into direct conversation is central to our mission. We do not seek easy consensus. Instead, we encourage critical exchange that clarifies tensions, surfaces assumptions, and distinguishes meaningful differences in approach—while maintaining an atmosphere of independence and mutual respect. 

CPDP delivers this mission through a carefully curated multidisciplinary programme of panels and workshops that connects cutting-edge legal, regulatory, academic, and technological developments to their practical implications. We also host an explicit arts and culture programme, including the Culture Club, to open new angles on digital rights and to expand the conference’s modes of inquiry beyond conventional debate. Through formats such as Avatar FM, CPDP experiments with more accessible ways of reaching broader and younger audiences. 

CPDP’s impact extends beyond the annual conference. We build continuity through public-facing outputs—CPDP’s book series and recorded sessions—that support ongoing learning, teaching, and professional practice. CPDP also extends its community through CPDP-branded conferences organised in coordination with the CPDP Executive Director. These initiatives promote CPDP’s philosophy in regional networks and help maintain quality and alignment. CPDP LATAM takes place annually in Brazil, and CPDP Africa is being developed in Namibia. 

CPDP is an engaged stakeholder conference dedicated to mapping key developments in the digital society and fostering dialogue across a wide range of perspectives. Its primary commitment is to the field itself, bringing together diverse voices from around the world, including academics, lawyers, practitioners, data protection and other authorities, policymakers (including at the EU level), industry representatives and civil society. It is not a disciplinary conference confined exclusively to law or computer science, nor a trade or industry fair, nor is it a gathering of exclusive groups or ideologies.

Panels are expected to be relevant and genuinely diverse, with particular attention to gender balance, national variety, and disciplinary plurality among speakers. Our engagement is also to the values that underpin the field: speakers are invited to examine technologies through the lens of privacy, data protection, and other fundamental values enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, using these as shared reference points to structure analysis and dialogue across disciplines.

Because these concepts can be ambiguous or contested in concrete settings, CPDP treats debate as a space where stakeholders can compare views, refine understandings, and address the democratic questions that follow from technological change: Are we addressing the right topics? Are we inviting a broad spectrum of parliamentary and policy voices, or relying on the same circles? Is everyone whose contribution deepens reflection on technology and values truly welcome?

As conference organisers we are aware of imperfections in our programming, and we are grateful for the critical feedback from the scientific community and all participating stakeholders, which helps CPDP remain an open, reflexive, values‑driven forum.

Everyone participating in CPDP is expected to abide by the following Code of Conduct. This includes all conference attendees, speakers, staff and volunteers. CPDP is committed to providing a welcoming and harassment-free environment for everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, physical appearances, or beliefs.  

Harassment and unacceptable behaviour include deliberate intimidation, stalking, inappropriate physical contact and unwelcome sexual attention, the use of derogatory or discriminatory language, gestures or actions, racism, sexism, or any other targeted comments which may cause personal offence to another CPDP participant either in-person at the conference or through social media channels. 

If any attendee engages in harassing behaviour, the CPDP organisers (being the non-profit organisation Privacy Salon with Belgian registration number BE 0565.952.438) can take any lawful action deemed appropriate, it may result in an immediate refusal of entrance, or a refusal of participation for a single or more conferences. 

Code of Conduct complaints

If you believe you’ve observed or experienced a violation of this Code of Conduct, please fill out the template (link) to provide all the necessary information needed to lodge a complaint. 

Your complaint will be treated by the Oversight Committee.

The Oversight Committee will notify the complainant within 30 days after a complaint is received, unless for procedural reasons a more extended period is necessary. The Oversight Committee can propose recommendations and/or sanctions to the CPDP organisers. It has an explicit duty of confidentiality of matters discussed.