Carnegie Mellon brings International Data Privacy Day to the Heinz History Center on February 1

This month, Carnegie Mellon University’s Privacy Engineering program will take its annual celebration of International Privacy Day beyond campus and into the heart of the city, hosting a free, family-friendly event at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

Data Privacy Day 2026 will take place on Sunday, February 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Heinz History Center’s first floor Great Hall. The event is open to the public, and no registration is required.

For more than a decade, CMU has marked Data Privacy Day by sharing research, tools, and conversations about how personal data is collected, used, and protected. In recent years, the university has shifted the event’s focus outward, moving from campus to community venues in an effort to make privacy education more accessible to the broader public.

“Over time, we realized there was a real need to bring our privacy knowledge to the community,” said Hana Habib, Associate Director of CMU’s Master’s in Privacy Engineering program. “We want people of all ages to feel comfortable engaging with these topics.”

This year’s event will serve as a “drop-in” experience for museum visitors. Guests will have opportunities to stop by interactive tables, attend short talks, and take part in activities designed to make data privacy concepts understandable and relevant to everyday life.

The event will include brief talks from CMU faculty members, including Sarah Scheffler, who will return for 2026 to share real-world stories that highlight the surprising ways data can be collected and used in modern technologies, and Joe Calandrino, the newest member of the Privacy Engineering faculty, who will present on recent privacy cases brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

Children and families will be especially welcomed. Lorrie Cranor, CyLab director and author of the recently published children’s book Privacy, Please!, will host story time sessions and book signings.

Data Privacy Day will also feature a Privacy Clinic, taking place for the duration of the event. Students from the Privacy Engineering program will lead hands-on activities and craft stations, along with information tables covering topics such as passwords, phishing, and everyday digital safety.

“We’re trying to make this accessible and interesting for everyone,” said Habib. “There are activities that kids can enjoy, and there’s also information that’s really useful for adults who want to better understand how to manage their privacy online.”

The partnership with the Heinz History Center also allows the university to reach new audiences.

“Different community spaces attract different groups of people,” said Habib. “The museum reached out to us about collaborating, and Data Privacy Day felt like a natural fit.”

Ultimately, the goal of Data Privacy Day is not only to inform, but to empower people to make informed decisions about protecting their digital privacy.

“Privacy affects everyone, whether they realize it or not,” said Habib. “If we can help people feel more confident and informed about how their data is handled, that’s a meaningful step.”