Elizabeth Denham CBE was appointed UK Information Commissioner in July 2016, having previously held the position of Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, Canada and Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

She has set out a commitment to increase consumer trust people have in what happens to their personal data. This forms the basis of her strategic plan, and has been demonstrated in her commitment to ensuring companies are transparent with the public about how personal information is used, notably with high-profile investigations into Yahoo, Camelot, WhatsApp and Facebook.

The Commissioner has also demonstrated a focus on the essential role data protection can play in innovation, and the importance of organisations understanding the growing impetus on companies to be accountable for what they do with personal data. This forms a central part of the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force in May 2018.

Ms Denham is a strong voice for public access rights. A proponent of open government and open data, Ms Denham has called for the proactive disclosure of records and published best practices for government ministries and public bodies. While at the ICO, she has called for the Freedom of Information Act to be extended to private bodies doing work on behalf of the public, and proposed a review of legislation around the duty to document information.

Bridget Treacy leads the UK Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.  Her practice focuses on all aspects of privacy, data protection, information governance and e-commerce issues for multinational companies across a broad range of industry sectors. Bridget's background in complex technology transactions (including wide-ranging experience of advising on outsourcing agreements, strategic alliances and other collaborative arrangements with a technology focus) enable her to advise on the specific data protection and information governance issues that occur in a commercial context.  Bridget is the Editor of Privacy & Data Protection journal.

Dan Cooper is a Partner in Covington & Burling’s London office.

Dan advises clients on information technology regulatory issues, particularly data protection, e-commerce and data security matters.

According to Chambers UK, his "level of expertise is second to none, but it's also equally paired with a keen understanding of our business and direction." It was noted that "he is very good at calibrating and helping to gauge risk."

Dan also regularly assists leading technology companies, including social networking sites, online content and entertainment providers, and e-shopping sites, on their European and global compliance strategies. He also has deep experience with the regulation of mobile and e-health technologies. Dan is also known for his ability to guide clients through the issues arising from data breach incidents, and has advised a number of high-profile clients in this area.

Dan Whitehead is Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells. Dan is regularly involved in advising on the privacy challenges associated with emerging technologies, privacy by design, data commercialisation and cybersecurity. He has several years of in-house experience in the financial services and technology industries; having worked as a privacy officer in-house at a global investment bank and in commercial IT roles at two US software companies.

Recently Dan has advised a major technology company on compliance with the GDPR in the context of blockchain technologies, provided guidance to a number of clients on risks associated with data sharing/licensing and undertaken a global audit of a financial services firm's privacy compliance framework.

Ellis Parry is Data Ethics Advisor at the ICO. He started his career as a solicitor in private practice, after gaining his MBA, before joining AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals in 2001 as a specialist IT lawyer. Ellis became AstraZeneca's Global Privacy Officer in 2005, leaving to join BP as its Global Lead for Data Privacy in 2010. At BP Ellis was responsible for devising and implementing BP's global approach to personal information handling, including the maintenance of BP's Binding Corporate Rules.

 

Emma Erskine-Fox is an associate in TLT’s Data, Privacy and Cybersecurity team. She advises clients across all of TLT’s sectors on all areas of data protection, cybersecurity and e-privacy compliance, with a particular focus on the Financial Services sector, having spent six months on secondment to the legal privacy team of a UK clearing bank.

 

She has run many large-scale GDPR compliance and contract remediation projects and has extensive experience of advising on data protection compliance issues. She regularly assists clients with implementing privacy by design approaches to innovative projects and has a particular interest in the impact of data protection legislation on emerging technologies, having spoken at several large conferences on AI and participated as an expert witness at the Law Society Technology and Law Policy Commission on the use of algorithms in the justice system. She is highly experienced in the strategic handling of subject access requests and other data subject rights issues; negotiating complex data processing and data sharing arrangements; handling data protection breaches; advising on direct marketing requirements; and assisting clients with compliance with cookies rules, including in the context of adtech.

Gemma Thomas is the Data Protection Officer at the IOPC. Gemma graduated from Sheffield University with a degree in law and started working for Staffordshire Police. From there she moved to Ofwat to take up the role of Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer.

Gemma first sat the Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection in 2014. She has been carrying out the work of a DPO since 2015 when she moved to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (precursor to the IOPC) as FOI and Data Protection Manager, the job title of DPO was not so common in those days.

She managed the transition of the IOPC from the 1998 Act to both the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive and took her GDPR Conversion in 2018. Today she manages a team of seven who look after all FOI and data protection concerns for the IOPC

James Clark is a Senior Associate in the Data Protection, Privacy and Cyber Security group at DLA Piper.  He advises a broad range of private and public sector clients on compliance and contract issues in the fields of data protection, privacy, direct marketing and freedom of information law, and also regularly helps clients to respond to and manage multi-jurisdictional data security incidents.   In addition to his practice area, James is a member of his firm's multi-disciplinary Insurance and Life Sciences sector teams, and regularly attends, organises and speaks at events attended by organisations in these sectors.

John Wilson has worked as an information professional for over 35 years and since 1994 he has worked as an independent trainer and consultant specialising in information management with particular emphasis on knowledge sharing, document and records management, indexing and taxonomy.

John has developed and delivered many training courses on information and records management in Europe and the Middle East. He has undertaken consultancy projects for clients in a wide range of sectors including central and local government, banking, energy, biotechnology and utilities in the UK, Europe and the Caribbean. John has worked in both the public and private sectors and was Head of Information Services with BP Exploration before re-training as an in-house information management consultant with BP.

He is a founder member and past Director of the IRMS. In 2011 he was appointed IRMS International Officer and in May 2013 he was awarded Fellowship of the Society.

John is Head of the Examination Board on the Practitioner Certificate in Records Management.

 

Kate Brimsted is Partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. She has nearly 20 years' experience in commercial and contentious data privacy and now advises clients on the GDPR and Cyber Security.

She enjoys grappling with the subtleties of data privacy and security, whilst avoiding making a complex area of regulation more complicated than it has to be. Kate's aim is swiftly to identify the core issues of a matter and to work collaboratively with clients to implement clear, practical solutions.

Kate is familiar with advising on large, complex and multi-jurisdictional IT implementation projects where personal data is central. She also conducts data privacy compliance reviews, privacy impact assessments and advises on major IT system refreshes, especially involving cloud computing. Kate’s clients are drawn from a wide variety of sectors, including technology and telecommunications, energy and natural resources and financial services.

Liz Fitzsimons is Partner at Eversheds specialising in data protection and freedom of information and EIR.

Liz helps clients with all aspects of data protection, GDPR and e-privacy, freedom of information and compliance with environmental information regulations. Her work includes strategic advice on UK wide and multi-national data privacy, including assisting clients with audits, transfer and compliance programmes and development of supporting documents, such as privacy notices and policies. Liz has also worked closely with clients on key data sharing and shared service arrangements, in relation to mergers and acquisitions, and on critical data privacy issues when outsourcing.

Liz is a Member of the Examination Board for the Practitioner Certificate in Freedom of Information.

Peter Given is Legal Director at Womble Bond Dickinson specialising in data protection and privacy law. He advises clients on a wide range of data protection matters in a variety of contexts, including in relation to general data protection compliance, data processing and outsourcing arrangements, direct marketing, data subject access requests and cross-border transfers of data. In addition to data protection and privacy matters, Peter also advises on general commercial law including in relation to outsourcing, information technology, e-commerce and intellectual property matters.

Peter has previously undertaken secondments to a global US-based financial institution and a major European pharmaceutical organisation. In both secondments Peter supported the internal legal teams on a variety of matters and projects, including those relating to data protection and privacy. He also spent time as a Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Jackson, assisting him with his review of the costs of civil litigation in England and Wales.

Peter has written the ‘Marketing’ chapter for Data Protection – a practical guide to UK law (6th Edition, Oxford University Press), due to be published in September 2020.

Peter regularly contributes articles to academic and trade publications. He has authored articles which have been published in Privacy and Data Protection Journal.

Robert Bond is a Partner at Bristows. He has specialised in technology law for over 37 years and is also a well recognised expert and author in the legal fields of TMT, ecommerce, data protection and cyber security. He is a member of Tech UK Big Data and Analytics Council and the United Nations Privacy Advisory Group, is on the advisory Board of the Data Protection Academy of Malaysia, and is an Ambassador for Privacy by Design. He is named in the National Law Journal's list of 50 Governance Risk & Compliance Trailblazers, listed in the top 10 in “the Who’s Who of Information Technology Lawyers 2014” and also in "Best Lawyers in UK 2016”. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Rosemary Jay is a Senior Consultant Attorney in Hunton Andrews Kurth's Global Privacy Practice and author of Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (Sweet & Maxwell). She advises clients on privacy, data protection, human rights, access to information and related information law issues. She has worked in the area of information law since 1987. Rosemary joined the firm having previously been a Partner and Head of the Information Law group at Pinsent Masons. Prior to that she worked in the public sector, including 12 years spent at the office of the Data Protection Registrar where she headed the Legal Department.

Rosemary speaks and writes widely on data protection and access to information, both nationally and internationally.

Sandy Tsakiridi is a Group Senior Legal Counsel in the Data Privacy & Digital Legal team of HSBC. As part of her responsibilities, she provides advice on privacy and data protection-related matters, including privacy risk management, across all lines of business of HSBC at global level. Prior to her current role, she has worked as an external legal counsel in leading international law firms and one of the Big Four. Sandy regularly speaks and contributes to professional publications on privacy and data protection topics.