HotPETs 2026
Call for HotPETs
19th Workshop on Hot Topics in Privacy Enhancing Technologies (HotPETs 2026)
Held in conjunction with the 26th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium
July 24, 2026
General information: https://petsymposium.org/2026
What is HotPETs?
The Workshop on Hot Topics in Privacy Enhancing Technologies (HotPETs) brings together activists, artists, developers, journalists, public servants, and researchers to explore new directions on privacy and privacy-enhancing technologies. We are excited to host spirited debates in an environment that fosters new ideas.
We seek participants who want to lead a discussion or workshop on a topic or take that is new, unusual, controversial, or otherwise "Hot" and related to privacy enhancing technologies (PETs). Your talk should consist of a quick introduction (maximum 10 minutes) to the topic aimed at getting everyone in the room, regardless of field or specialty, up to speed followed by questions or topics to be considered by the HotPETs participants.
Participants typically come from a research-oriented background, but may work in (for example) academia, industry, or the public-sector.
This format provides a safe and welcoming environment to discuss works in progress, unorthodox approaches, controversial ideas, and new ideas from both within and outside of the typical PETS community.
Short, written talk proposals should be sent by May 11th to hotpets26@petsymposium.org.
Deadlines:
Submission Deadline: Monday, May 11, 2026 23:59 AoE
Submission Notification: Wednesday, May 18, 2026
Send submissions or questions to hotpets26@petsymposium.org
Who should submit:
We invite submissions from activists, artists, developers, journalists, public servants, researchers (from computer science to social science and law), and anyone who can give a compelling, novel talk about privacy and privacy-enhancing technologies. PETS and HotPETs attract world-renowned experts on the research, development, and practice of PETs, and is an exciting venue for connecting with this community.
If you are planning to attend PETS for the first time, are someone who works with communities that need or use PETS technologies, or work on challenges that complement PETS' core scholarly work, we especially encourage you to submit! The chairs are always happy to answer questions about the process or expectations.
PETs is hybrid this year, and we encourage HotPETs presenters to attend in person. Travel stipends may be available to help presenters attend, but purely virtual attendance is also an option for presenters and attendees alike.
Some example HotPETs:
- A short intro with breakout groups on how to ensure that privacy research helps those with less power in society led by a non-profit volunteer.
- A discussion about privacy protections in the era of machine learning led by a researcher.
- A workshop on breakdowns in participatory methods led by former study participants.
- A structured ideation session with a privacy lawyer focused on legal gaps and emerging issues where privacy research can have practical impact.
- A discussion about ethics of privacy research led by an activist.
- A discussion about the interactions between technology and the development of privacy- or security-related legislation led by a policy expert.
- A discussion about surveillance and user privacy on online platforms.
- A discussion about the limitations of privacy enhancing technologies in the public sector led by a rep from a policy office.
What to submit:
Submitting is easy, we ask you to submit only a title, abstract, and a brief talk proposal via email. The talk proposal should only answer the following questions:
- Why is this a good topic for HotPETs?
- How will you make the discussion engaging/entertaining?
How to submit:
Please submit your proposals no later than May 11, 2026 by email to hotpets26@petsymposium.org. Your proposal should be included in the email, and not in a separate attachment. Submissions usually include:
- Title
- Abstract (1 page max)
- Authors and affiliations
- Two paragraphs answering: (1) why is this a good topic for HotPETs, (2) How will you actively engage the audience? Describe the planned interactive activities or participation strategies.
Proposal Review:
The HotPETs chairs will review the proposals and make the final decisions on acceptance. The chairs may request external input or advice to make fully informed decisions.
Unlike PETS, HotPETs is curated rather than peer-reviewed. The set of proposals that will be accepted will be chosen to create a coherent and engaging workshop for speakers and attendees. Within this aim, priority will be given to accepted proposals that provoke interesting discussion, provide unique insight or value to the PETs community, share new and emerging PETs-related research that have not been published before, or have the potential to expand awareness of and participation in the PETS community.
Q&A
Does the topic need to be my own research paper?
Absolutely not. You can propose any topic related to PETs that interests you or you know a lot about.
Can I talk about a new thing I made?
Yes! As long as you can lead a participatory discussion about the new thing.
Should I submit my rejected PETs paper?
Nope. However, we welcome a discussion about a topic related to your rejected paper, this is not the correct venue for you to present your rejected PETs paper.
HotPETs Best Talk Award:
The goal of HotPETs is to facilitate discussions that are informative, engaging, and even entertaining. To recognize such talks, each year HotPETs concludes with a vote by the audience for its favorite. The talk with the most votes will win the Best Talk Award!
HotPETs chairs:
- Joel Reardon (University of Calgary)
- Shaanan Cohney (University of Melbourne/Tufts University)