ASA man to replace Richard Thomas
vnunet.com, 13 Jan 2009
Advertising Standards Authority chief Christopher Graham will become the next Information Commissioner when incumbent Richard Thomas retires.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) confirmed the appointment today, but said that the date of Thomas's retirement, widely reported as being at the end of June, is still to be confirmed.
A former BBC journalist, Graham has been in charge at the advertising watchdog since 2000, and was recommended for the ICO post by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.
In his six years as Information Commissioner, Thomas has been openly critical of the government in its handling of citizens' data, most notably after the HMRC scandal when 25 million personal records went missing. He also heavily criticised chief executives for "careless and inexcusable" data breaches.
Thomas managed to raise the profile of the ICO, and was recently granted the power to impose greater fines on organisations for deliberate or reckless loss of data, and to carry out spot checks on public bodies without prior notice.
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