Dr Johnny Ryan

Dr Ryan joins ICCL from Brave, where he was chief policy and industry relations officer reporting to CEO Brendan Eich, the inventor of JavaScript.

His regulatory interventions made the front page of the Financial Times, and his expert commentary regularly appears in media such as The New York Times, The Economist, Wired, Le Monde, and others.

Liam Herrick, ICCL executive director, said: “Johnny is 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.”

Dr Ryan added: “What happens in Dublin has global consequence. Big tech’s data use across the EU is regulated from Dublin. Failure to enforce the GDPR here puts all European citizens in jeopardy. I am joining ICCL to focus all of my energy on holding Big Tech – and its enforcers – to account.”

His appointment by ICCL has been made possible by a grant from global philanthropic organisation Luminate as part of its work on data and digital rights, which ensures the rights of people and communities are upheld in the design and use of data and technology.