[Download]

Apple's first CES appearance in 28 years is all about privacy

The company's Senior Director of Global Privacy, Jane Horvath, is due to speak at a roundtable where she and her peers will share their beliefs on what customers want for privacy protections.

There won't be an announcement, a keynote or a booth, then -- this is really about articulating views to industry and the press.

In addition to Apple, you can also expect execs from Facebook and Procter & Gamble as well as FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.

The more Apple-centric Macworld Expo frequently took place in a similar time frame, and it occasionally upstaged everything at CES -- it's no secret that the iPhone unveiling stole much of CES' thunder in January 2007.

Throw in the many, many companies bringing Apple-oriented accessories to the event and the company has been hard to escape.

It's unlikely that Apple will return to announcing products at CES when the company is well-known for wanting control over when and how it conducts launches. This does, however, indicate that Apple is more willing to engage with the rest of the industry, if just to get its message across.

Original article