"John Edwards is outspoken. This is not a bad thing. We want and need privacy regulators who are not afraid to call out bad privacy practices," says the IAPP's Daimhin Warner. Photo / John Stone
"John Edwards is outspoken. This is not a bad thing. We want and need privacy regulators who are not afraid to call out bad privacy practices," says the IAPP's Daimhin Warner. Photo / John Stone
New Zealand's global headline-grabbing Privacy Commissioner John Edwards will be the UK's new privacy tsar, according to a report in the Telegraph, published 8am today NZT, that quotes UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden.
On July 25, another UK paper, the Times, reported thatEdwards had become the preferred candidate to head Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in a report headlined "Facebook-hating New Zealander John Edwards in line to be Britain's privacy tsar".
Edwards' appointment was awaiting final sign-off from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - which has now come through, according to the Telegraph. Edwards had no comment.
In his new role, Edwards will face twin challenges. The Times picked him to lead a crusade against Big Tech on behalf of No. 10 in the wake of rabble-rousing rhetoric from the UK's Prime Minister.
Johnson's Conservative government has launched the Online Safety Bill to hold social media companies to account over harmful content and created the Digital Markets Unit at the competition watchdog to tackle anti-competitive behaviour by tech giants.
Edwards is familiar with tussling with Big Tech, particularly Facebook, whom he called "morally bankrupt" at one point (more on which below).
However, the Telegraph also notes that Johnson sees Brexit as an opportunity for the UK to introduce a "light touch" data regime that will give it a competitive advantage over the strict privacy requirements of the EU's highly regarded General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It will fall on Edwards to maintain a balance. The fact that NZ's compromise-path new data regime has been approved by the EU was not lost on Dowden, the Telegraph says.
Edwards' only comment since the rumours began has been a tweet saying 'Not hating' - an oblique reference to the Times' headline.
In a post published in anticipation that Edwards' new role would be confirmed, the International Association of Privacy Professionals' Daimhin Warner defended the NZ Privacy Commissioner's at-times front foot approach - which has not always been appreciated at home (the Herald understands that at one point after the 2019 mosque massacres, Edwards was asked to dial-down his public criticism of social media platforms).
"John Edwards is outspoken. This is not a bad thing. We want and need privacy regulators who are not afraid to call out bad privacy practices, take a stand in the name of the consumer, and keep government agencies and corporations operating within privacy and ethical guardrails," Warner wrote.
"But I do not believe 'outspoken' is Edwards' most defining quality. Anyone who has worked for or with the commissioner knows him to be an approachable, pragmatic and reasonable regulator."
Warner added, "Perhaps most of all, Edwards is a 'Kiwi'. He has no airs and graces, no pretensions, and he will lay it all out with little ambiguity.
"NZ agencies and privacy professionals have long benefited from his direct and forthright approach to both enforcement and collaboration. By refusing to take himself too seriously, he was also able to convey important and often groundbreaking messages about privacy issues in a way that captured the audience."
An independent panel selected Edwards as the preferred candidate and he was then recommended for the role by Downden - who sought final sign-off from Johnson.
Edwards gained international attention in March 2019 in the wake of the Christchurch mosque massacres, when he publicly scolded Facebook for its initial lack of comment, saying "Your silence is an insult to our grief".
The following month he made news around the world again when, on Twitter, he accused Facebook of being "morally bankrupt pathological liars who enable genocide (Myanmar), facilitate foreign undermining of democratic institutions #DontGiveaZuck." Edwards stood by his tweet, but also deleted it, saying it had led to "toxic and misinformed" comments.
More recently, he has been seen chairing a session at an International Privacy Day conference where Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed new privacy measures (which, rarely for a Big Move, got staunch support from Edwards) and warning the Waikato DHB it could be liable for patients' data being spilled onto the internet.
A role with the bite he's always wanted
Wellington lawyer Edwards was first appointed Privacy Commissioner in 2013 following a series of senior civil service roles and a stint running his own law firm.
If he is confirmed in the UK role, Edwards will be able to finally levy the huge fines he considers are necessary to toe the line.
An overhaul of NZ's Privacy Act, which came into force in March, gives our Privacy Commissioner the power to impose penalties of up to $10,000. Edwards had been pushing for $1m.
In the UK, the ICO can fine firms up to £17.5m or 4 per cent of their global turnover, whichever is higher.
Edwards will take over from departing ICO head Elizabeth Denhan - who ran into flak after CCTV footage emerged mid-year of then UK Health Minister Matt Hancock in an embrace with a senior aide in violation of social-distancing rules. There were accusations that Denham’s office had failed to protect the privacy of alleged NHS whistleblowers, whose homes were raided in the wake of the footage being leaked.
Edwards will take over from departing ICO head Elizabeth Denham.
Denham ran into personal controversy when a transparency release revealed she had been working from home from Canada for months. And under her reign, the ICO also ran into flak as homes of potential NHS whistleblowers were raided after CCTV footage leaked in June of then Health Minister Matt Hancock in an embrace with a senior aide - a breach of Covid rules.
NHS advocates said the raids would discourage further whistleblowing.
The Times said Edwards' chief opposition for ICO head comes from London Stock Exchange chief privacy officer Vivienne Artz.
