Keynote Presenter

Title: Safeguarding your identity

Biography

 Sir Joseph Pilling was appointed by the Home Secretary as the first Identity Commissioner on 1 October 2009. The role, created under the Identity Cards Act 2006, focuses on overseeing the delivery of the National Identity Service, the security and integrity of individuals’ data on the National Identity Register and the uses to which identity cards and identity data are put.

He will work with existing regulators, in particular the Information Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner, to provide independent scrutiny and to address concerns. He will report to the Home Secretary at least annually, and this report must be laid before Parliament.

Sir Joseph was Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 to 2005. Much of his earlier career was concerned with prisons and with health. Since 2005, he has been involved in reviews of senior appointments in the Church of England, the Civil Aviation Authority, the 30 Year Rule on the release of government information and the governance of London University.

He is chairman of the Koestler Trust which encourages the arts amongst offenders and is a trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support.