Why Privacytopia?

Every day we generate data on our electronic devices, whether it is by connecting with our friends and family, finding our way in the city, expressing our ideas, buying a new pair of shoes, finding a new date, or switching on a smart light in our home. What happens with that data? Who owns them? How are they shared? How do we protect this data? And how does it affect our lives and daily activities?  

In our rapidly evolving technological societies, these questions are more crucial than ever. Technological innovations are often met with ambiguous reactions. From dystopian responses and the ‘unheimlich’ (creepy) impression of potential outcomes (often pictured in science-fiction) to utopian future-positive embracement of such novelties.  

Privacytopia wants to encourage open and public conversations about them through art exhibitions, symposia, workshops, performances and more. It is a celebration of privacy in the age of connectivity, datafication, artificial intelligence and surveillance.

Privacytopia is an initiative of Privacy Salon, a Belgian NGO affiliated with the Free University of Brussels (VUB). Since 2007, Privacy Salon has organised high-level events on privacy and data protection, most notably the Computer, Privacy & Data Protection (CPDP) conference in Brussels. CPDP brings together leading voices from academia, civil society, industry, policy, and the arts, and has grown into a globally recognised platform for critical debate.

Since 2013, Privacy Salon has also curated exhibitions and cultural programs in collaboration with international artists and arts organisations. These initiatives bring artistic and academic perspectives into dialogue, connecting state-of-the-art research in law, science, technology, and the humanities with the practices of artists and curators working on privacy-related themes.

These activities form the foundation of Privacytopia—now an umbrella for all artistic and educational initiatives of Privacy Salon. Through exhibitions, workshops, performances, and public debates, Privacytopia explores the social, political and ethical implications of datafication, surveillance, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. Its aim is to decode complex technological transformations and open new perspectives for diverse audiences.