Ex 'Tech City' chief Shields appointed junior Fun minister for internet safety

Tory Baroness Joanna Shields OBE, ex-Tech City supremo, ex-head of Bebo*, ex-head of Facebook Europe and ex-MD of Google EMEA, has been appointed minister for internet safety and security. Shields was awarded the OBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list and elevated to the peerage the following August. The Telegraph reports …

[Trollslayer]

Tech City UK?

As yes, marketing types and newsagents.

[Kane]

Hah!

>ex-head of Facebook Europe

>minister for internet safety and security

Oh, how I laughed...

[Stuart Ball]

Re: Hah!

Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Hah!

you missed out Bebo and Google, those other great establishments of data hording.

[Vimes]

Re: Hah!

I wonder: is having an ex-employee from Google working for HMG the quid-quo-pro for employing an ex-ICO staffer at Google?

There are previous patterns that also suggest that this revolving door exists: just ask Patricia Hewitt, Norman Lamont, Ian Livingston and BT.

[Alister]

Baroness Shields has been Prime Minister David Cameron’s adviser on the digital economy since July 2014.

So she's the one that advised him encryption was unnecessary and should be banned?

Good to see she has a good grasp of her subject.

[Anonymous Blowhard]

As far as I can see, her technology credentials extend to "being in charge of a social networking company"; which would seem to indicate that the government would choose Rupert Murdoch as head of its space program, if it had one...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing she was one of the people who had the idea of setting up the social media network, didn't have the technical knowledge to actually implement it, paid drones to do that. It's like the way people called Steve Jobs a tech geek, when really he was the ideas man, Woz did the technical stuff (well, that's what I took away after reading his biography)

[Andy The Hat]

The Government want to give more access to the BT infrastructure for other companies (by proxy via Ofcom) and she happens to be non-exec director of Talk Talk ... Thankfully no obvious conflict of interest there then ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Communications Data Bill

Surely with their 'wafer thin' majority, there will be enough sensible / obnoxiously rebellious Tory back benchers to ensure that nonsense like the Communications Data Bill doesn't happen.

Or am I having too much faith in the intelligence and humanity of the parliamentary conservative party here?

[Rob]

Re: Communications Data Bill

The fact that you used intelligence and humanity in the same sentence as parliamentary conservatives I'd say yes to the faith question.

[billse10]

Re: Communications Data Bill

"The fact that you used intelligence and humanity in the same sentence as parliamentary conservatives I'd say yes to the faith question."

intelligence and humanity in the same sentence as any parliamentarian - remember Lord VoldemortMandelson?

[Kane]

Re: Communications Data Bill@Hadvar

"Surely with their 'wafer thin' majority, there will be enough sensible / obnoxiously rebellious Tory back benchers to ensure that nonsense like the Communications Data Bill doesn't happen."

Unfortunately not old chap, as it seems that regardless of which party you belong to, they all seem to want to make these changes towards that direction of travel.

Icon most definitely appropriate, I think.

[x 7]

so.....reading between the lines, sacked from Farcebook, sacked from Groogle,as to Bebo.....who knows? It obviously wasn't run very well.

How the heck do people like this manage to fail so often and still stay employed?

[BongoJoe]

Aside: Which is a question that most Newcastle United fans ask of their managers...

[Rich 11]

How the heck do people like this manage to fail so often and still stay employed?

Friends in low places.

[JimmyPage]

This was the bit I didn't like ..

quite aside from technical fripperies

A dual US-UK citizen

So she can **** up life for everyone else in the UK, then swan off back to the good ol' US of A ?

How many dual-national congressmen (*excluding* Israeli) ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Always look on the bright side of life...

Could've been Lottie Dexter.

[leon clarke]

Er, why at Ministry of Fun?

I'd have thought that if you wanted to do anything useful about anything to do with internet safety (as a minister), you'd have to be at the Home Office. That would give you involvement in things like the snooper's charter.

Whether or not she looks like a complete dead loss depends a lot on whether you compare her with successful people in the tech field, or whether you compare her to other ministers involved in internet stuff. I'm optimistic that she may be relatively good, because she isn't a PPE graduate who thinks that getting your secretary to print out your emails counts as using the internet (but she'll be unable to do anything as she'll have to tow the home office line on anything that matters)

[harmjschoonhoven]

Re: Ministry of Fun

The Swiss call theirs Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport or "Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport".