Executive Committee

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin graduated in France from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and the Multimedia Institute. She held various posts with the Conseil d’Etat” from 1986 including roles related to internet rights. Isabelle became a State Counselor (Conseiller d’Etat) in November 2001. Ms Falque-Pierrotin has been a member of the French Data Protection Authority (Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés) since January 2004 and its Chair since 2011. In February 2014, she was elected as Chair of the EU Article 29 Working Party.

Ms Falque-Pierrotin was elected to the Committee in 2014 and re-elected for a further 2 year term in 2016. Isabelle was elected Chair of the Executive Committee in 2017.

The Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, France, provides the Secretariat on behalf of the Executive Committee.

Daniel Therrien was appointed Privacy Commissioner of Canada in 2014 after three decades as a lawyer with various federal government departments that regularly deal with human rights issues. He began his federal government career practising correctional law before moving into immigration law, becoming Assistant Deputy Attorney General responsible for the Public Safety, Defence and Immigration portfolio in 2005. In that capacity, Mr Therrien served in a leadership role giving legal advice to government on public safety and national security issues. He was also instrumental in negotiating the privacy principles that now govern information sharing between Canada and the U.S. under the Beyond the Border accord.

Mr Therrien was elected to the Executive Committee in 2015 and re-elected for a further 2 year term in 2017.

Marguerite Ouedraogo Bonane was appointed President of the Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties in September 2013. Previously she was the Director of Legal affairs for the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority till 2009. Between 2002 and 2009, she served as General Counsel of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and then as Head of Legal Affairs.

She is the vice-president of the AFAPDP and of the African network for the Protection of Personal Data.

Ms Ouedraogo Bonane was elected to the Committee in 2017.

Elizabeth Denham was appointed UK Information Commissioner in July 2016. Prior to this she was the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (2010-2016) and Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada from 2007 – 2010.

In 2013 Ms Denham received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her service as an Officer of the Legislature of British Columbia, Canada. In 2011she was honoured as a UBC distinguished alumni for her pioneering work in archives and leadership in the field of access and privacy. She is a visiting professor to the department of Information Studies at University College London.

Ms Denham was elected to the Executive Committee in 2017.

Stephan Kai-yi Wong was appointed Privacy Commissioner of Hong Kong in August 2015. Prior to this Stephen was a practising barrister in private practice and the Secretary to the independent advisory body, the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong (LRC). Before serving at the LRC, Mr Wong had been a legal counsel in the Department of Justice from 1986 to 2007 (the then Attorney General’s Chambers before 1997), assuming various posts including Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions and Deputy Solicitor General. Being an expert in human rights law, he was involved in the legislative process of the 1991 Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, and was subsequently on loan to the United nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva for one year until 1992.

Mr Wong joined the Committee in 2016 as the host of the 39th Conference.

Mr. Giovanni Buttarelli (1957) has been European Data Protection Supervisor since December 2014. He was appointed by a joint decision of the European Parliament and the Council on 4 December 2014 for a term of five years. He previously served as Assistant EDPS, from January 2009 until December 2014.

Before joining the EDPS, he worked as Secretary General to the Italian Data Protection Authority, a position he occupied between 1997 and 2009. A member of the Italian judiciary with the rank of Cassation judge, he has attended to many initiatives and committees on data protection and related issues at international level. Read more.

Ventislav Karadjov was appointed Chairman of the Bulgaria Commission for Personal Data Protection on 15 April 2014. Prior to this he was an adviser to the Minister for International Affairs in the field of international activities and anti-corruption, as well as a Chief Expert Associate to the 41st and 42nd National Assembly оn matters related to the control of security services, special surveillance devices, and access to data according to the Electronic Communications Act. Mr Karadjov has occupied a number of professional legal positions on international projects concerning anti-corruption and creation of functioning democratic institutions.

Previously he was a legal adviser and programme director at Transparency Without Borders Association, a branch of Transparency International. He has worked on projects for international institutions such as the European Commission, the US Agency for International Development, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the UN Development Programme. Mr Karadjov is the vice-chairman of the EU Article 29 Working Party.

Besnik Dervishi is the Information and Data Protection Commissioner for Albania. Prior to this he was elected as a member of the General Assembly of the Republic of Albania and was a Minister at the Ministry of Territory Adjustment and Tourism.

Mr Dervishi joined the Committee in 2017 as an observer since Albania will be hosting the 41st Conference in 2019.