‘Outrage’ as former tech giant lobbyist appointed to Data Protection Commission 

A cross-European group of privacy experts and digital wellbeing advocates have expressed “outrage” at the decision to appoint a former lobbyist for a tech giant to the Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The grouping, which includes the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Noyb — privacy litigant Max Schrems’s main advocacy organisation — and 42 others, wrote to the two DPC commissioners already in situ, Dale Sutherland and Des Hogan, this week to express their strong “misgivings” regarding the appointment.

Niamh Sweeney, former head of public policy for both Facebook and WhatsApp, and one-time head of communications for fintech giant Stripe, took up her position as data protection commissioner with the DPC last week.

The appointment has been deemed controversial, given Ms Sweeney’s previous role working for Meta, one of the DPC’s principal litigation adversaries over much of the past 15 years in both Irish and European courts.

Her interview panel within the civil service appointments agency included a member who previously worked for various big tech interests as a lawyer. 

The presence of that person on the interview panel had led to an official complaint regarding the recruitment process being lodged by one of Ms Sweeney’s fellow candidates for the job.

The DPC is the independent Irish regulator for data protection and privacy matters, with one of its primary responsibilities being the regulation of various big tech companies headquartered in Ireland, including Meta, X, Amazon, and TikTok.

The DPC regulates various big tech companies headquartered in Ireland, including Meta, X, Amazon, and TikTok. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

The commission had long faced criticism from European vested interests as being overly slow and risk-averse in terms of the investigations carried out regarding big tech firms.

However, in recent years, the DPC had levied significant fines against corporates found in breach of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with Meta slapped with multiple fines totalling well over €1bn for such breaches.

The letter to the DPC sent last week — copied to both the Taoiseach and justice minister — suggested that Ms Sweeney’s appointment “reflects a concerning level of disregard for EU law”, specifically Ireland’s obligations as an EU member to “ensure the independent, impartial, and effective implementation of union law, including the GDPR”.

The writers said that not only had Ms Sweeney formerly worked as a senior lobbyist for Meta, but added that in her most recent role at consultancy Milltown Partners, she “continued to advocate on behalf of these platforms”.

They added that Ms Sweeney may be subject to non-disclosure agreements and other possible contractual obligations from her previous roles, which could “prevent her from supervising these firms”.

They said: “This appointment therefore raises serious questions about the DPC’s independence at a time when its impartiality is of critical importance for the entire union, and when public trust is already fragile”.

The DPC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.