Elizabeth Denham has been confirmed as the UK’s new information commissioner.

The Commons culture, media and sport committee confirmed the appointment of the Canadian, who currently holds a similar role in British Columbia, on Wednesday.

The £140,000-a-year role sees overall responsibility for Freedom of Information Act decisions, data protection and regulations on privacy and electronic communications.

“The committee noted with interest Ms Denham’s views on a range of topics, including the possible retention of emails as official records, the extension of FoI and directors’ liability for data breaches, in particular,” said Jesse Norman, chair of the committee.

Denham has held the role of information and privacy commissioner in British Columbia since 2010. Prior to that she served as assistant privacy commissioner of Canada for three years.



According to her profile she led a “groundbreaking” investigation into privacy on Facebook, which resulted in global changes to the social networking site.

She also led discussions with Google that resulted in “improvements” to its street view imaging service in Canada.

“We also noted Ms Denham’s track record on data protection with government in British Columbia, and her proactive approach to protection of privacy with major international technology companies,” added Norman.

In March, the government confirmed Denham as its preferred candidate to take over from Christopher Graham, who was appointed on a five-year term that was extended for two years.



“I believe the rapid pace of technological change we face will continue to accelerate and present challenges to information rights – we must ensure access to information while maintaining high standards of data protection,” said Denham at the time she was named as information commissioner designate. “The Information Commissioner’s Office has a global reputation for practical, innovative and responsive regulation. I look forward to contributing to this work.”

Following final approval from the Queen, Denham will start the new role in the summer for a five-year term.