Digital rights campaigners have criticised the appointment of a former tech industry lobbyist to a top role in the Data Protection Commission (DPC), which regulates big tech, arguing that it undermines trust in the data watchdog.
Former Meta lobbyist Niamh Sweeney was appointed as one of the three data protection commissioners leading the State regulator last month.
A number of groups criticised the decision in a letter to Government, claiming Ms Sweeney’s appointment raises questions about the independence of the commission, given her past work for the tech industry.
Ms Sweeney was previously employed as a lobbyist for Facebook in Ireland for several years, before taking over as WhatsApp’s top lobbyist covering Europe, Middle East and Africa.
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In an October 22nd letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the commission, about 40 civil society groups and campaigners criticised the decision to pick Ms Sweeney for the senior job in the regulator.
The appointment would allow “serious questions about the DPC’s independence at a time when its impartiality is of critical importance for the entire [European] Union, and when public trust is already fragile,” the letter said.
The letter said Ireland was bound to implement European Union law, namely strict General Data Protection Regulation, (GDPR) data protection rules, independently and impartially.
The letter was signed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Austrian privacy and digital rights organisation Noyb, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, UK organisation Article 19, lobbying watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, the Vienna-based International Press Institute and a number of other organisations and campaigners.
It is understood sources inside the data protection commission believe Ms Sweeney’s past experience will be valuable in helping the regulator understand how the big social media and tech firms think and operate.
Ms Sweeney had more recently worked for payments giant Stripe as their head of communications, and as a director of the UK consultancy firm Milltown Partners.
Before her career in public affairs she worked as an adviser to then-tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, during the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government.
In a statement, the commission said it welcomed the appointment of Ms Sweeney to the role, where she will work alongside existing commissioners Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland.
The role was filled following a competition run by the Public Appointments Service.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice, which oversees the regulator, said it was “fully satisfied with the appointment process”.
Privacy and tech campaigners have long accused the Irish data regulator of being too soft on US tech multinationals headquartered in the Republic.
Meta and the commission have clashed on several occasions in recent years. The regulator fined the Facebook owner €251 million last December, over a large personal data breach.
The letter from the group of privacy organisations said concerns about how the commission was enforcing EU data regulations were “long-standing and ongoing”. The correspondence accused the watchdog of having an “abysmal” record taking on big tech companies.
