Richard Thomas's presentation at 'Private Data, Open Government' conference

Richard Thomas's presentation to the conference the ICO hosted on 13 May 2009 is now available to download.

Private Data, Open Government: Questions of Information - 13 May 2009

As he prepares to stand down as Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas hosted conference at the QEII Centre in Westminster on 13 May, to take stock of progress with Freedom of Information and Data Protection. The conference saw a high-level policy focused discussion on the contribution of open government and privacy protection, standing back from immediate preoccupations to look at the underlying policy issues and challenges for the future.

Over 200 high-level stakeholders attended and BBC journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby hosted an ‘Any Questions?’ panel session considering issues such as:

What part do Freedom of Information and Data Protection now play in the democratic process?
What are the real benefits and problems of Open Government?
How should the lines be drawn between Security and Privacy?

Richard Thomas offered his reflections on his time as Information Commissioner before the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice delivered the keynote speech.

The panelists included Peter Fleischer (Global Privacy Counsel, Google), Shami Chakrabarti (Director, Liberty), Dominic Grieve MP (Shadow Justice Secretary), Alan Beith MP (Chair of the Justice Select Committee), Ian Readhead (Director of Information for the Association of Chief Police Officers Criminal Records Office) Roger Smith (Director, Justice) and Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive, Royal Society of Arts).

Click here to view Richard Thomas’s slide presentation.