Simon Davies is a British

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

advocate and academic from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, formerly based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, UK. Davies was one of the first campaigners in the field of international privacy advocacy, founding the watchdog organisation

Privacy International Privacy International (PI) is a UK-based registered charity that defends and promotes the right to privacy across the world. First formed in 1990, registered as a non-profit company in 2002 and as a charity in 2012, PI is based in London. Its cu ...

in 1990 and subsequently working in emerging areas of privacy such as electronic visual surveillance, identity systems, border security, encryption policy and

biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

. In July 2008 Davies criticised the Stranton landmark ''

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

vs.

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

'' ruling, stating the privacy of millions of YouTube users was threatened: 'The chickens have come home to roost for Google. Their arrogance and refusal to listen to friendly advice has resulted in the privacy of tens of millions being placed under threat. Governments and organisations are realising that companies like Google have a warehouse full of data. And while that data is stored it is under threat of being used and putting privacy in danger.' Davies was also listed as current chief executive officer of UK consultancy group 80/20 Thinking Limited, which is defunct as of June 2015. In 2022, Davies was convicted of child sex offences committed in Sydney in the 1980s, having been wanted by police in New South Wales since 2016.

Academic posts

Davies has been a visiting fellow in law at both the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

and the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

. He has also been a visiting senior fellow within the Department of Management of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(LSE). He is also codirector of the LSE's Policy Engagement Network which is presently researching options for the process stage of the development of a new British constitution. In 2014, he has been a visiting professor at

John Cabot University John Cabot University (JCU) is a private American-style university in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1972 and it offers undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and study abroad programs to English-speaking students. The university has more tha ...

, an American university in Rome, Italy.

Awards

In April 1999 Davies received the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

's Pioneer Award for his contribution to online freedom. In 2007 was made a fellow of the

British Computer Society Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957 BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, known as the British Computer Society until 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in infor ...

. In both 2004 and 2005 silicon.com voted him as one of the world's 50 most influential people in technology policy.

Arrest

In December 2019, based on accounts of survivors in Australia and a September 2016 New South Wales arrest warrant, an international police alert was issued to locate Davies in relation to allegations of child sexual abuse during the 1980s, when he had been chief executive of the Homeless Children's Association in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

in Sydney. Davies gave himself up to police in The Hague, and was subsequently held by Dutch police pending extradition. He was extradited in April 2021 and charged by the New South Wales police with 'numerous' historical counts of abuse; he was subsequently convicted, with sentencing hearings in late 2022.

References

External links

The Privacy Surgeon
- website described as Simon Davies' brain space {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Simon Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Privacy activists Fellows of the British Computer Society Human rights in the United Kingdom Australian people convicted of child sexual abuse British people convicted of child sexual abuse Australian people convicted of indecent assault British people convicted of indecent assault