New Information Commissioner John Edwards starts today
New chief of UK data protection regulator starts with a full in-tray
The UK data protection regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has a new chief executive.
John Edwards starts his five-year term today, having held an equivalent position as Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand for the past eight years. He takes over from Elizabeth Denham, who occupied the position until the end of last year.
Edwards said in a statement that he was looking forward to his new responsibilities:
"Privacy is a right not a privilege. In a world where our personal data can drive everything from the healthcare we receive to the job opportunities we see, we all deserve to have our data treated with respect," he said.
"My role is to work with those to whom we entrust our data so they are able to respect our privacy with ease whilst still reaping the benefits of data-driven innovation. I also want to empower people to understand and influence how they want their data to be used, and to make it easy for people to access remedies if things go wrong."
The new Information Commissioner starts his job with a full in-tray.
The Online Safety Bill, which seeks to tackle harmful content online, is progressing through Parliament amid criticism that current drafts do too little to protect the personal data of the users of online platforms.
A government response to a public consultation Data: a new direction launched last year to inform the shape of the UK's post Brexit data protection provisions is also expected in the Spring.
And there are the ongoing legal battles with the deep-pocketed tech giants, which, as the outgoing commissioner pointed out in an interview with the BBC have resources larger than nation states when it comes to lobbying and litigation.
"These companies are definitely willing to litigate against public authorities, and deep pockets means that there's an inequity of arms when we're tackling these big companies," Denham said.
Privacy campaigners will be keeping a close watch on the ICO under its new leadership, in the light of what they see as government attempts to neuter the data protection watchdog in order to oil the wheels of post-Brexit trade deals.
In her BBC interview, Denham restated the importance of the regulator's independence.
"If a regulator can be leaned on politically or if government directs the work of the regulator, then I think that undermines the trust that other countries are going to have with us and doing trade deals. I think my work on data and political campaigns would have been almost impossible to do if I had to take my marching orders from government."
Denham has joined legal outfit Baker McKenzie as a consultant, a move that has raised eyebrows as this firm represented Facebook when the ICO took it to court over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.