Technology and data expert Dr Johnny Ryan has joined the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) as a senior fellow on its information rights programme.

He joins the campaign group from browser company Brave, where he was chief policy and industry relations officer reporting to CEO Brendan Eich, the inventor of JavaScript.

Investigations

ICCL executive director Liam Herrick described Dr Ryan as a global figure in the tech industry.

“He exposed the vast data breach at the heart of the online advertising industry, and triggered regulatory investigations at Google and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, two bodies that define the rules for much of the online advertising industry,” he said.

GDPR

Dr Ryan said he was joining the ICCL because what happens in Dublin has global consequences.

“Big tech’s data use across the EU is regulated from Dublin. Failure to enforce the GDPR here puts all European citizens in jeopardy,” he added.

The group said Dr Ryan’s appointment was made possible by a grant received from global philanthropic organisation Luminate.