John Edwards is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

lawyer and civil servant who is the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Information Commissioner, and was previously the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner from 2014 to 2021.

Personal life and career

Edwards was brought up in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

and practised law in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

for over 20 years specialising in information law. He also served as legal counsel for the New Zealand

Families Commission The Social Policy Research and Evaluation Unit, known as Superu, was an autonomous New Zealand Crown entity. It was established as the Families Commission under the Families Commission Act 2003 and the Crown Entities Act 2004 to advocate on beh ...

from 2003 to 2013, and as a senior solicitor at the Ministry of Health from 1997 to 1999.

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner

Edwards was the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, first appointed in 2014 and held the post until 31 December 2021. During his tenure he was also chairman of the Global Privacy Assembly from 2014 to 2017.

United Kingdom Information Commissioner

On 21 December 2021, Edwards was formally appointed by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

as the United Kingdom's sixth Information Commissioner, and took office on 3 January 2022.

References

20th-century New Zealand lawyers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub