Sweeney was a special advisor to the Government before moving on to lead public policy at companies including Facebook. Ireland’s privacy watchdog, the Data Protection Commission (DPC), has appointed Niamh Sweeney as the third commissioner at the agency. In addition to already-serving commissioners for data protection Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland, Sweeney’s appointment will complete the DPC’s three-person lead team. “The Data Protection Commission has grown significantly in size, scope and responsibility over the last decade, playing a critical role as one of the largest EU data protection authorities,” said Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan, TD. Helen Dixon took over as data protection commissioner in 2014, and led the organisation for nearly a decade as its sole head.