Colum Walsh was appointed Deputy Commissioner for Data Protection in 2019 and is responsible for the Information and Assessment, National Complaints and National Inquiries functions within the DPC.

Colum was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2010 and holds an LL.M in Commercial Law. He practised at the Bar for five years before joining the Pensions Authority as a legal adviser, and where he subsequently acted as Deputy Head of Compliance. Colum has lectured in company law, the law of equity and trusts and in regulatory and compliance aspects of insurance.

Prior to taking up practice, he spent 10 years working for a private health insurer across a range of business and legal roles.

Bridget Treacy leads the Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.  Her practice focuses on all aspects of privacy, data protection, information governance and e-commerce issues for multinational companies across a broad range of industry sectors. Bridget's background in complex technology transactions (including wide-ranging experience of advising on outsourcing agreements, strategic alliances and other collaborative arrangements with a technology focus) enable her to advise on the specific data protection and information governance issues that occur in a commercial context.

Dan Cooper is a Partner at Covington & Burling’s. Dan advises clients on information technology regulatory issues, particularly data protection, e-commerce and data security matters.

According to Chambers UK, his "level of expertise is second to none, but it's also equally paired with a keen understanding of our business and direction." It was noted that "he is very good at calibrating and helping to gauge risk."

Dan also regularly assists leading technology companies, including social networking sites, online content and entertainment providers, and e-shopping sites, on their European and global compliance strategies. He also has deep experience with the regulation of mobile and e-health technologies. Dan is also known for his ability to guide clients through the issues arising from data breach incidents, and has advised a number of high-profile clients in this area.

Dan Whitehead is Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells. Dan is regularly involved in advising on the privacy challenges associated with emerging technologies, privacy by design, data commercialisation and cybersecurity. He has several years of in-house experience in the financial services and technology industries; having worked as a privacy officer in-house at a global investment bank and in commercial IT roles at two US software companies.

Recently Dan has advised a major technology company on compliance with the GDPR in the context of blockchain technologies, provided guidance to a number of clients on risks associated with data sharing/licensing and undertaken a global audit of a financial services firm's privacy compliance framework.

Doug McMahon  is a Partner in the Technology and Innovation Group in McCann FitzGerald.  Doug provides specialist advice on contentious and non-contentious data protection matters, including conducting privacy impact assessments, drafting data protection policies, notices and data processing clauses, dealing with access requests, data security breach issues, Data Protection Commissioner audits and investigations, marketing obligations, international data transfers and registration obligations.

Doug has significant experience helping clients to prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), both in the private and the public sector.  This includes creating GDPR compliance programmes and advising on implementing policies and procedures to comply with the new requirements under the GDPR.

Emma Erskine-Fox is an associate in TLT’s Data, Privacy and Cybersecurity team. She advises clients across all of TLT’s sectors on all areas of data protection, cybersecurity and e-privacy compliance, with a particular focus on the Financial Services sector, having spent six months on secondment to the legal privacy team at a clearing bank.

 

She has run many large-scale GDPR compliance and contract remediation projects and has extensive experience of advising on data protection compliance issues. She regularly assists clients with implementing privacy by design approaches to innovative projects and has a particular interest in the impact of data protection legislation on emerging technologies, having spoken at several large conferences on AI and participated as an expert witness at the Law Society Technology and Law Policy Commission on the use of algorithms in the justice system. She is highly experienced in the strategic handling of subject access requests and other data subject rights issues; negotiating complex data processing and data sharing arrangements; handling data protection breaches; advising on direct marketing requirements; and assisting clients with compliance with cookies rules, including in the context of adtech.

Gemma Thomas is the Data Protection Officer at the IOPC. Gemma graduated from Sheffield University with a degree in law and started working for Staffordshire Police. From there she moved to Ofwat to take up the role of Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer.

Gemma first sat the Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection in 2014. She has been carrying out the work of a DPO since 2015 when she moved to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (precursor to the IOPC) as FOI and Data Protection Manager, the job title of DPO was not so common in those days.

She managed the transition of the IOPC to both the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive and took her GDPR Conversion in 2018. Today she manages a team of seven who look after all FOI and data protection concerns for the IOPC

James Clark is a Senior Associate in the Data Protection, Privacy and Cyber Security group at DLA Piper.  He advises a broad range of private and public sector clients on compliance and contract issues in the fields of data protection, privacy, direct marketing and freedom of information law, and also regularly helps clients to respond to and manage multi-jurisdictional data security incidents.   In addition to his practice area, James is a member of his firm's multi-disciplinary Insurance and Life Sciences sector teams, and regularly attends, organises and speaks at events attended by organisations in these sectors.

John Whelan is a Partner and Head of the Commercial & Technology Group at A&L Goodbody. John advises clients on commercial, regulatory and contentious matters with a focus on commercial contracts, technology, privacy, IP and telecoms. On the IP side he has been involved in most of the significant patent cases that have come before the Irish courts, and on the commercial side some of the largest technology projects completed in the Irish market. John also advises tech and pharma companies establishing operations in Ireland. Before joining A&L Goodbody as a partner in 2003, John worked with a global law firm in London and Hong Kong. He established and headed up A&L Goodbody’s US offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto from 2013 to 2016.

John Wilson has worked as an information professional for over 35 years and since 1994 he has worked as an independent trainer and consultant specialising in information management with particular emphasis on knowledge sharing, document and records management, indexing and taxonomy.

John has developed and delivered many training courses on information and records management in Europe and the Middle East. He has undertaken consultancy projects for clients in a wide range of sectors including central and local government, banking, energy, biotechnology and utilities in the Europe, the UK and the Caribbean. John has worked in both the public and private sectors and was Head of Information Services with BP Exploration before re-training as an in-house information management consultant with BP.

He is a founder member and past Director of the Information and Records Management Society. In 2011 he was appointed IRMS International Officer and in May 2013 he was awarded Fellowship of the Society.

Linda Hynes is a Partner in Lewis Silkin’s Employment, Immigration and Reward department based in the Dublin Office. She advises on all aspects of the employment law relationship from recruitment to termination, including the data protection aspects of all HR practices.

Linda headed up the employment law and data protection team of Leman Solicitors for 6 years where she advised clients on a variety of employment law and data protection issues. Linda holds the Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection and advises clients on all aspects of data protection compliance including dealing with access requests and data breaches, transfers of data abroad and using data in the employment context. Linda has advised a significant number of clients on their GDPR compliance programmes assisting them on auditing their compliance, implementing strong compliance frameworks and putting the training and policies behind those frameworks.

Liz Fitzsimons is Partner at Eversheds specialising in data protection and freedom of information and EIR.

Liz helps clients with all aspects of data protection, GDPR and e-privacy, freedom of information and compliance with environmental information regulations. Her work includes strategic advice on UK wide and multi-national data privacy, including assisting clients with audits, transfer and compliance programmes and development of supporting documents, such as privacy notices and policies. Liz has also worked closely with clients on key data sharing and shared service arrangements, in relation to mergers and acquisitions, and on critical data privacy issues when outsourcing.

Paul Lavery is a Partner and the Head of the Technology and Innovation Group in McCann FitzGerald. Paul is a specialist adviser on a data protection, information technology, intellectual property, e-commerce, confidentiality and freedom of information issues.

Paul is the author of Commercial Secrets: The Action for Breach of Confidence in Ireland, the first Irish work on the topic. Paul's book has been quoted in judgments of the Irish Supreme Court.

Paul specialises in all aspects of data protection law including data protection compliance issues, dealing with access requests, data security breach issues, Data Protection Commissioner audits and investigations, marketing obligations, data protection notices and contractual provisions, international data transfers and registration obligations.

Paul is a Member of the Examination Board for the Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection.

Robert Bond is a Partner at Bristows. He has specialised in technology law for over 37 years and is also a well recognised expert and author in the legal fields of TMT, ecommerce, data protection and cyber security. He is a member of Tech UK Big Data and Analytics Council and the United Nations Privacy Advisory Group, is on the advisory Board of the Data Protection Academy of Malaysia, and is an Ambassador for Privacy by Design. He is named in the National Law Journal's list of 50 Governance Risk & Compliance Trailblazers, listed in the top 10 in “the Who’s Who of Information Technology Lawyers 2014” and also in "Best Lawyers in UK 2016”. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Rosemary Jay is a Senior Consultant Attorney in Hunton Andrews Kurth's Global Privacy Practice and author of Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (Sweet & Maxwell). She advises clients on privacy, data protection, human rights, access to information and related information law issues. She has worked in the area of information law since 1987. Rosemary joined the firm having previously been a Partner and Head of the Information Law group at Pinsent Masons. Prior to that she worked in the public sector, including 12 years spent at the office of the Data Protection Registrar where she headed the Legal Department.

Rosemary speaks and writes widely on data protection and access to information, both nationally and internationally.

Sandy Tsakiridi is a Group Senior Legal Counsel in the Data Privacy & Digital Legal team of HSBC. As part of her responsibilities, she provides advice on privacy and data protection-related matters, including privacy risk management, across all lines of business of HSBC at global level. Prior to her current role, she has worked as an external legal counsel in leading international law firms and one of the Big Four. Sandy regularly speaks and contributes to professional publications on privacy and data protection topics.