{"id":550111,"date":"2026-04-25T14:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550111\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T14:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:35:14","slug":"head-of-uk-data-watchdog-voluntarily-steps-aside-amid-hr-probe-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550111\/","title":{"rendered":"Head of UK data watchdog voluntarily steps aside amid HR probe \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a separate statement, the ICO said Edwards voluntarily stepped back from his duties on Feb. 26 in order \u201cto enable an independent workplace investigation which relates to him. This investigation will produce a report with recommendations for DSIT to decide next steps,\u201d the agency said, referring to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo protect all parties involved and\u00a0maintain\u00a0the integrity of the investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this stage,” the ICO said in its statement. \u201cThe board, chief executive Paul Arnold and executive team continue to lead the ICO, aligned to the scheme of delegation, to ensure continuity in our leadership and regulatory work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards has helmed the U.K.\u2019s independent data protection regulator since 2021 and was expected to step down from the role later this year as part of a wider restructure of the regulator under the Data (Use and Access) Act<\/a>. He previously served as New Zealand Privacy Commissioner from 2014 to 2021.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: \u201cIt is right there is an independent workplace investigation and that the Information Commissioner has stepped back from his duties so the proper process can be followed. We remain in close contact with the ICO.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article has been updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a separate statement, the ICO said Edwards voluntarily stepped back from his duties on Feb. 26 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1336,189310,59,57,58,189311,50,2811,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-550111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-data","9":"tag-data-protection-and-digital-information-bill","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greatbritain","13":"tag-john-edwards","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-privacy","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}