Elizabeth Denham was appointed the UK’s Information Commissioner in July 2016, building on her previous experience as Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia and Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has led her office’s efforts to provide timely, practical advice on complying with data protection while preventing and detecting the spread of the virus and has spoken to parliamentarians and government about finding that balance. Elizabeth was appointed chair of the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) in 2018 which seeks to provide international leadership in data protection and privacy as the premier global forum for data protection authorities.
In March 2019, Elizabeth was appointed chair of the Governance Working Group of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC). The ICIC is the leading global forum for information commissioners and ombudspersons responsible for overseeing access to public information legislation.
Elizabeth is committed to being a firm but fair regulator with a mission of increasing the public’s understanding, trust and confidence in how their data is used. She has overseen an expansion of the ICO to include an innovation department, a regulatory sandbox and has led on pioneering work including the age appropriate design code setting standards for children’s privacy.
