The South by Southwest is known to many as grand music fest, but the set conferences were set up to discuss the latest developments in film and emerging technology, Bloomberg said. On the other hand, organizers of the set conference will also be tackling the issue oversharing, and how it has real-life implications in light of surveillance programs conducted by governments.
The news agency said conference goers will be expected former government contractor Edward Snowden to speak at the SXSW Interactive via video. Snowden, who has gained notoriety when he leaked thousands of documents that proved online surveillance activities of the US National Security Agency, will be speaking on the conference's last day. Also present at the symposium would be embattled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who will be discussing about encryption tools to keep authority eyes out of personal information, Bloomberg said.
The growing concern about personal data, thanks to Assange and Snowden, also shed light to certain governments' hesitancy to put more teeth in privacy laws, The New York Times said in a report. Republican state representative Jonathan Stickland in Texas has been quoted as saying, "Congress is obviously not interested in updating those things or protecting privacy. If they're not going to do it, states have to do it."
According to law professor Robert Chesney at the University of Texas in Austin, who will also speak at the privacy symposium as a panel member, said that discussions about privacy should no longer just be within experts as risks of getting private information of individuals and businesses are growing.
"It was in vogue for a while for people to say that the up-and-coming generation doesn't care about privacy. It's clear now that was at best overstated, and probably reflected a failure to appreciate the real implications of what moving to a world of digitized information means," Chesney added.
Mezzobit Inc cheif executive officer and founder Joseph Galarneau of DataNeutrality.org believed that SXSW is the right avenue to discuss such an important issue. Galarneau, who will also be speaking at SXSW, said "The lure of convenience and free stuff is strong, and even those folks who understand the privacy implications will plow forward. It's like eating at a tasty restaurant that you know has sanitation problems in the kitchen."
