International Digital Privacy Expert to deliver FLAC’s 12th Annual Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture

Marc Rotenberg, President of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and International Digital Privacy Expert, will deliver FLAC’s 12th Annual Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture at 6pm on Thursday, 13 December in The Pillar Room, Rotunda Hospital, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

As President of EPIC, Marc Rotenberg advocates on privacy and transparency through the US federal courts, pursues open-government cases, defends consumer privacy and appears before Congress and judicial organisations. In 2016, the Irish High Court appointed EPIC to act as a “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) in the case of Data Protection Commissioner V Facebook Ireland & Schrems to give a counterbalancing perspective to that of the US government. FLAC has continued to represent EPIC in this litigation as part of its strategic litigation work.

FLAC’s decision to dedicate the 12th Annual Dave Ellis Lecture to privacy and access to justice in an online context is based on the organisation’s increasing concern over the increased threats Ireland’s unregulated digital space presents in terms of fundamental rights.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s lecture, Eilis Barry, Chief Executive of FLAC said: “Accessing legal representation can be a barrier for individuals and NGOs who wish to litigate on public interest matters. There is an inequality in the legal capacity of an individual, or NGO, to challenge the law, compared with the resources potentially available to social media operators or the State.”