And, like many other global digital giants, it chose Ireland as a European base where it aimed to be a destination for people to come together to create, learn, be entertained, grow their business and connect with communities locally and around the world.

Elaine Fox was appointed as TikTok’s head of Ireland six months ago, alongside her role as head of privacy Europe at the company. Previously having worked for another social media behemoth, Meta, she had also been a solicitor for law firms Eversheds Sutherland and Philip Lee.

“In this role my day-to-day job is very much focusing on data protection and privacy, and I manage a European team of privacy professionals and lawyers that is part of a global privacy team,” she explains.

“We advise all arms of the business on launching products, features and initiatives which are compliant with the requirements of GDPR, advising on areas such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which was introduced in 2023.

“Most recently, my team has also assumed day-to-day responsibility for compliance with the EU AI Act, which was introduced last year.”

These are areas crucial to the company’s continuing success, requiring a continual reviewing and strengthening of the protections TikTok gives its community and introducing pioneering measures to protect people’s privacy.

It emphasised a local approach to this by establishing a data centre in Ireland, while last year it opened DUBTAC, a new “Transparency and Accountability Centre” in Dublin which experts can visit to see how it works to protect users online.

Ms Fox believes that it’s useful to have broad legal skills when employed in-house in a company such as TikTok. “It means that you know the business that you are part of, the company that you’re employed by and you understand your clients in a deeper way,” she says.

Holding a BCL from UCD and an LLM from Trinity in Dublin, she is, she says, “first and foremost a data protection lawyer”.

“And when the opportunity came to step into a company to deliver advice, that was exciting for me, because I’m a data protection enthusiast and a very avid technologist.

“I love technology, understanding how the newest gadgets work. The desire to understand what goes on underneath the surface was what gave me a particular interest in moving in-house.”

This fits well with the role of DUBTAC. “At our Transparency and Accountability Centre Dublin, we can outline how the app works, explain how moderation works and how policies are enforced,” she explains.

“We also provide details on how data is collected, how it’s processed and the steps required to protect it. 

“It is a very interactive space where we’ve hosted regulators allowing them to get a sense of how the app works and get behind it to see all the work and effort that goes into keeping it safe and secure.”

This, of course, demands keeping abreast of social media privacy legislation changing constantly at what seems a blinding speed and which is still accelerating owing to growing concerns over data privacy, misinformation and user security. 

It’s also something that is increasingly in the headlines — Apple recently announced it was pulling its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) setting for UK users’ iCloud data after the government demanded broad access to fully encrypted data.

Meanwhile, TikTok returned to US app stores in the middle of February after a ban briefly went into effect and barred it from being downloaded by US users as the administration there worked on a deal that would put it under US ownership — something, Ms Fox emphasises, that will not affect the app’s functionality and operations in Ireland, where she says the company is noted for its privacy operations.

TikTok has brought in a third-party company, NCC Group, to validate and verify that the data is being stored and processed as described and publish its findings to demonstrate TikTok’s compliance.

Growing up in Athlone in the Irish midlands, Ms Fox says she had no early prompt or drive to become a lawyer. “Rather it was through my interest in reading, and I always liked history.

“I had a history teacher who was also a qualified barrister, and I remember him talking to me about law and why he enjoyed studying it. When I was a teenager and really didn’t know what career to pursue that was an influence. 

“I still love reading — anything I can get my hands on, and sometimes I might read two books at a time which might be on very different subjects.

“I am also very interested in my own area and follow several thinkers in the privacy space, then tag articles and read through them at the weekend.”

Swimming appears to be the favoured mode of exercise for several of the lawyers in Irish Legal News’s interviews and that is also top of Ms Fox’s list, followed by walking and hiking in the west of the country, with the rugged Co Donegal coast a favourite.

“One of the best things about living in Ireland is that you can hop in your car in the city and be somewhere remote relatively quickly, which is a real privilege,” she reflects. 

Among the advice she has received during her career she particularly remembers “you should listen twice as much as you speak” — advocating the importance of active listening. 

“This has definitely served me well in my career, reminding me to focus and give the other person in the conversation your full attention so that you really understand their perspective,” she says. 

Ms Fox recalls that she has also received support from mentors during her career and encourages younger colleagues to take advice from multiple mentors if they can find them.

“I’ve worked with — and work with — some of the most amazing people who are inspiring, at the top of their area of expertise and also very generous with their time,” she says. 

“It’s wonderful to be part of a bigger thing and to be moving things forward, constantly looking at where you are and how you could do things better. 

“That’s a big motivator for me. And the field I work in is challenging — one that’s always changing and evolving, which is quite exciting.”