Former tech industry lobbyist Niamh Sweeney has been named to the Data Protection Commission, the chief regulator for big tech firms in Ireland.
Ms Sweeney will take up her role as data protection commissioner on October 13th, the Department of Justice said in a statement. She becomes the third commissioner, joining Des Hogan and Dale Sutherland.
“The Data Protection Commission has grown significantly in size, scope and responsibility over the last decade, playing a critical role as one of the largest EU data protection authorities,” Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said.
“As the responsibilities and scope of the DPC continue to grow, I am pleased that three commissioners will now lead and manage this key regulatory body.”
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A former journalist and ministerial adviser, Ms Sweeney spent six years at Meta, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was head of public policy, Ireland for Facebook before becoming WhatsApp’s director of public policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
She then joined Stripe as head of communications and most recently has been a director at London-headquartered communications firm Milltown Partners.
The DPC welcomed Ms Sweeney’s appointment, adding it looked forward to “working with her as the DPC continues to uphold the EU’s fundamental right to data protection”.
The DPC and Meta have clashed a number of times in recent years. In December, the DPC, which is the main European regulator for Meta, fined the tech firm €251 million after investigations following a data breach, affecting 29 million Facebook accounts globally. Some three million of the affected accounts were based in the European Economic Area.
