Island’s First Privacy Commissioner Appointed
Governor John Rankin announced today [Dec 11] the appointment of Alexander M. White as the island’s first Privacy Commissioner.
Mr. White, who is from the United States, will take up the post on January 20, 2020.
In making the announcement, Governor Rankin said, “I am pleased to welcome Mr. White to Bermuda and look forward to his office, once established, implementing Bermuda’s Personal Information Protection Act, upholding the personal information rights of individuals and developing on island skills in the field of privacy.
“Mr. White is eminently qualified for the job. Prior to accepting the position of Privacy Commissioner for Bermuda, he was the Deputy Chief Privacy Officer for the South Carolina Enterprise Privacy Office in Columbia, South Carolina. During his tenure, he played a key role in establishing statewide privacy standards and practices.
“He guided agencies from the introduction of privacy concepts through the creation of compliance frameworks to a mature risk-based privacy mindset.
“Mr. White, a lawyer by training, also worked at First Nonprofit Group, an AmTrust Financial Company, in Chicago, Illinois and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional in the US, Canada, Asia and the European Union. The post of Privacy Commissioner is an important one for Bermuda.
“Mr. White will bring his legal background together with his extensive knowledge and understanding of privacy framework implementation to the island which will set the pace and tone for Privacy in Bermuda.
“The Privacy Commissioner’s responsibilities include monitoring how the Act is administered to ensure that its purposes are achieved. He will also be responsible for setting up the Privacy Commissioner’s Office, hiring and training staff, undertaking investigations, providing reports and developing public awareness on the rights of individuals and obligations of organizations under the Act.
“The establishment of this role will ensure Bermuda meets the international privacy requirements.”
Mr. Alexander White said, “I am delighted and honoured to accept this appointment as Bermuda’s first Privacy Commissioner. Drawing upon my experience in the insurance and public sectors, I will work to ensure that Bermudians understand their privacy rights and remain in control of their own data. Bermuda has a strong global reputation as the world’s risk capital.
“Thanks to the country’s unique history and geography, we have an opportunity to extend that reputation to cyber risk and build a framework of Mid-Atlantic Privacy that shows how to maintain the highest standards of data protection facilitating a thriving and prosperous business environment.”
Welcome. I have doubt Bermudians will look at this for a career in the future.
How much is this going to cost the taxpayer – the whole thing, not just his salary?
So there was no Bermudian to do this job?