The steady increase in the value of knowledge extracted from personal data, accumulated in large information repositories, has formed a real asset to be considered in its many dimensions: economic, social and political. The massive processing capacity of information that has been promoted by technological advance and networking, while the demand to set behavior patterns and categorizing people to fit them into standard profiles, have brought stress to the privacy of personal data. This has motivated the international community to recognize it as a human right and taking measures to protect its privacy. It is for this reason that the balance between technology and privacy requires a future oriented sight to analyze new opportuni- ties and challenges involved, trying to establish an adaptive path for our societies to traverse in the coming years. Given the social relevance of this issue, the 34a the International Conference of Data Protection and Personal Privacy will gather the views of the most recognized international experts, who will analyze topics such as geolocation, E-Health, biometrics, the new European regulations, the challenges crisscross between piracy and privacy and the advent of the Semantic Web, among some of the challenges leading towards the goal of achieving this necessary balance.