Information Commissioner’s bumpy exit out of office


TWO weeks after delivering her final­


­speech­as­the­UK’s­Information­


Commissioner it was reported that Elizabeth Denham had been hired by the­law­firm­that­defended­Facebook­ in­ a­ dispute­ with­ the­ Information­ Commissioner’s­Office.­ Politico magazine reported the move


with a number of concerns raised by gov- ernance and privacy campaign groups – mainly over the speed of the hiring and potential conflicts of interest. Elizabeth Denham told the magazine: “I start my role in January and by contract I am bound by a minimum one year cooling off period with regard to my former office. With these legal and contractual condi- tions possible conflicts will be addressed and my role carried out with high stan- dards of integrity.”


The controversy could undermine or re-emphasise a number of points she has recently raised herself. In her final speech she said the signifi- cance of the ICO had changed since 2016


and that this was reflected in the rise in employees from 500 to 800, adding “What is crucial, though, is that amid the pace of change, we don’t forget this relationship between innovation and privacy… We’ve seen already what happens when society is unsure about innovations. The opportuni- ties for life changing innovation is huge in the health sector, for instance, but people have been nervous about allowing their data to be used, where the explanation of the process isn’t clear. That was one of the crucial learnings of care.data, and is being seen in public push back against the gov- ernment’s plans around GP patient data.”


Concerns In the speech she also raised more specific concerns about the recent DCMS con- sultation saying. “I am deeply concerned about any changes to the data protection regime that would remove the centrality of fairness in how people’s data is used. I am thinking specifically of AI and algorithms here, and questions in the consultation


about the TIGGR proposal to remove the right to human review of automated deci- sions. This feels like a step backwards.” She said: “AI and algorithms rely on


the data that is fed into them, in order to produce the world-changing outputs that come out the other end. Put simply, if peo- ple start to mistrust those outputs, then they’ll start to block their data being used as an input.” In October she also made a statement about the Government proposals to reform the ICO, lending general support but add- ing: “Despite this broad support for the proposals to reform the ICO’s constitution, there are some important specific propos- als where I have strong concerns because of their risk to regulatory independence… The current proposals for the Secretary of State to approve ICO guidance and to appoint the CEO do not sufficiently safeguard this independence. I urge Gov- ernment to reconsider these proposals to ensure the independence of the regulator is preserved.”


Blue plaque for Fanny Passavant


FANNY Passavant, the first Librarian of the University Of Leeds, has been hon- oured with the unveiling of a blue plaque. Ms Passavant was appointed Librarian of


the Yorkshire College of Science in 1884, and became the first Librarian of the Uni- versity on its establishment in 1904. At the time, no other university had a female Librarian. Unveiling the plaque, Vice-Chancellor Professor Simone Buitendijk said: “Fanny Passavant is an important part of our his- tory… her energy and commitment led to the establishment of an important collec- tion of books, and that has been built on by successive generations to form the world- class facilities now on offer to students, with libraries across the campus.”


Unveiling of the plaque, from left: University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Col- lection Masud Khokhar; Vice-Chancellor Professor Simone Buitendijk; Leeds Civic Trust Chair Jane Taylor and Leeds Civic Trust Director Martin Hamilton.


December 2021 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 11


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