From wikipedia
Data Privacy Day is an international holiday that occurs every January 28.[1] The purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness and promote data privacy education. It is currently 'celebrated' in the United States, Canada, and 27 European countries.Data Privacy Day's educational initiative originally focused on raising awareness among teens and young adults about the importance of protecting the privacy of their personal information online, particularly in the context of social networking. The educational focus has expanded over the past four years to include families, consumers and businesses.
The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data was opened for signature by the Council of Europe on January 28, 1981. This convention is currently in the process of being updated in order to reflect new legal challenges caused by technological development. The Convention on Cybercrime is also protecting the integrity of data systems and thus of privacy in cyberspace. Privacy including data protection is also protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
On January 26, 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution HR 31 by a vote of 402–0, declaring January 28 National Data Privacy Day.[2] On January 28, 2009, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 25 also recognizing January 28, 2009 as National Data Privacy Day. The United States Senate also recognized Data Privacy Day in 2010 and in 2011.
Data Privacy Day 2012 occurred on January 28, 2012. The celebration within the United States and Canada was coordinated and promoted by the National Cyber Security Alliance.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Dayand
Why Data Protection Day Is A Dismal FailureTom Brewster On January 28, 2013
Data Protection Day fails to inspire yet again – it’s time for a different story
There are few things that make me genuinely despair, but awareness days around security issues make me want to annihilate my keyboard with my forehead. They just don’t do what they are supposed to – make people interested enough in privacy issues to actually do something about it.
So, on a cold Monday morning in January, when normal people have zero funds left in their bank accounts, and their depression quotient is almost full up, New Year’s resolutions are dismally forgotten, and spin-merchants are fighting over which day is really the elusive “Blue Monday”, the Data Protection Day organisers add to our joy with their ever-so-special event. The name itself is enough to make your stomach sink, but it has aliases – the thrilling European Privacy Day and the racy Data Privacy Day.
The “promotion” around this special day is equally, depressingly, drab. In Europe, the “charge” is being led by the European Commission – the body that is deciding the fate of data privacy legislation across member states right now. The Commission has gone down the same utterly predictable route as the umpteen security vendors piggybacking on the event to push their products: shoving out some research and talking about their plans.
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/comment/data-protection-day-failure-to-inspire-105603?ModPagespeed=noscript
