Elizabeth Denham CBE, has been announced as the winner of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT’s prestigious Society Medal 2020.
The new annual award, from the professional body for the IT industry, recognises Ms Denham’s outstanding contribution to making digital technology good for society.
The judges cited her investigation into the use of personal data in political campaigning (including micro-targeting for marketing) which probed organisations including Cambridge Analytica, Facebook and Leave EU.
More detail and quotes from the BCS can be found in this press release: https://www.bcs.org/more/about-us/press-office/press-releases/elizabeth-denham-cbe-awarded-society-medal-for-outstanding-contribution-to-it/
Accepting the award, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said “Ethical and responsible use of information is crucial to so much of the work the ICO does. That could be looking at how organisations can innovate with data, whilst ensuring compliance with the law as part of our Sandbox, or encouraging openness by design within public bodies in our Freedom of Information work. Ethical use of data is what BCS’ Society Medal represents and why I’m proud to receive it not only for myself but on behalf of my colleagues across the ICO.
“The pandemic has brought an acceleration in the uptake of digital services that would otherwise have taken years; therefore, ensuring people can trust organisations’ use of their personal data is more important than ever. The ICO will continue to work with government and businesses to help them make changes and meet the standards embedded within UK law and represented by this award.”
