Former chief executive of Security Industry Authority industry, the private-security industry regulator, from 2009 until his retirement in 2015. Previously held post of director of corporate services at the Gambling Commission.
Former member of British Military Intelligence and author of a book highlighting aspects of his service in Northern Ireland under the pseudonym Martin Ingram. He told the Inquiry that he and his family had been hacked by the now defunct News of the World: "The documentation that I've seen and others have seen, including Parliamentarians, clearly shows the corruptness which was allowed to continue and the culture was encouraged ... It would not have taken place over such a sustained period if it hadn't had the cover and the protection of very senior police officers," he told the Inquiry.
Keller was employed as a legal director at Google at the time of the Inquiry. She gave evidence on search engines and Google policy on removing content. Keller has taught Internet Law at Stanford, Berkeley and Duke law schools.
Member of the public who sought to draw attention to the security loopholes of mobile phone message services, in particular concerning the remote accessing of voicemails. Some 10 years before message-hacking became news, he alerted his phone company to the simplicity of hacking phone messages. When the company was reluctant to act, he spoke to journalists. In evidence to the Inquiry, he said that after contacting both the Daily Mirror and The Sun, he feared the press was deliberately keeping the issue secret in order to continue to access voicemails themselves. He contacted a variety of agencies, including the police and his MP, and ultimately started a website to promote the information.
Award-winning journalist working for the Daily Mirror at the time of the Inquiry. Was asked to give evidence on his coverage of the murder in 2010 of Jo Yeates in Bristol and the arrest and subsequent release without charge of Christopher Jefferies, specifically on the consideration given to issues of public interest.
British former senior police officer. From 2008 to 2009, Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) of London's Metropolitan Police Service at New Scotland Yard, a key national security post with responsibility for counter-terrorism within the UK, protection of the Queen and senior members of the British Royal Family, and protection of the UK Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers. Quick also oversaw the protection of visiting heads of state to the UK and the diplomatic community in London. Quick told the Inquiry of his belief from 2000 that some tabloid journalists were making corrupt payments to police officers.
Surtees joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1988 rising to Detective Chief Inspector within the Specialist Operations Unit. Told Inquiry of his involvement in an extensive live exercise to test police, government and military readiness in respect of security for the Olympic Games in 2012.
Information Commissioner of the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2009. Gave evidence on the responsibilities and workings of the Office of Information Commission with particular reference to privacy. During his time in office, he had raised concerns over the increased use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) and the introduction of ID Cards in the UK.
Head of Corporate Communications, Police Service of Northern Ireland, responsible for developing communications strategies to support most of Northern Ireland's biggest events, including Royal visits, the Irish Open, the MTV Awards and those relating to the 2013 UK City of Culture. At the time of the Inquiry, Young was also organisational communications lead on all critical incidents.
Expert in cyber resilience and former Director of Information for the Metropolitan Police Service. Answered questions at the Inquiry on the security and vulnerabilities of the Police National Computer.
Now known as Ombudsman Association. Members include ombudsmen and other complaint-handling bodies in the UK, Ireland and British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies. Gave evidence on the role of ombudsmen generally and possible roles of mediation in the Press.
Formed 2002. The world’s largest independent cancer-research charity, aiming to reduce the number of deaths from the disease by conducting research on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The organisation is funded through donations, fundraising and partnerships and with the help of their 40,000 regular volunteers. Gave evidence with Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and the Wellcome Trust on the importance of accurate and responsible reporting of science.
Technology consultant and award-winning blogger on security issues. Gave evidence on his work writing for "Naked Security" blog for Sophos Ltd, a global computer security firm protecting businesses against spam and hacking.
Public relations consultant at time of giving evidence and a former editor of The Sun newspaper, which he left in 1998. Higgins had worked for The Sun from 1979 as their West Country reporter and acquired notoriety when he was arrested in 1982 after being found with a Sun photographer "testing security" at Highgrove House, the home of the Prince of Wales. In 1994, he became editor of the paper, quickly winning Scoop of the Year awards for a story about the Queen ordering the then Princess of Wales and the Prince of Wales to divorce.
Managing Director of BT Security at the Inquiry. Gave evidence on two kinds of "social engineering": calls to BT Customer Contact Centres purporting to be from account holders in order to obtain personal information; and fraudulent calls to BT employees purporting to be from fellow BT employees, where the intention was to obtain confidential information. He also gave evidence on data protection.
Head of Regional Fraud Risk Europe at HSBC Bank. Responsible for all aspects of fraud prevention, investigation, on-line fraud monitoring, as well as the analytical and technical response to all emerging threats. He is also a member of the Cabinet Office Counter Fraud Task Force. He was asked at the Inquiry whether his financial institution had been targeted by people trying to “blag” confidential information.
Group Security & Fraud Director at Lloyds Banking Group at the time of the Inquiry. Called upon by Inquiry team to give information on "blagging". Following investigations, Shawcross told the Inquiry he believed there had been at least one "blagging" attempt and 57 illegitimate attempts at Lloyds to get information, sometimes with inducements offered. Since the attempts were unsuccessful, there was no evidence of who was responsible.
Founded 2004. American online social-media and networking-service company based in Menlo Park, California. Richard Beecroft Allan, Facebook's director of public policy for Europe at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence and was questioned about policy concerning inter alia pornography, bullying, violence and hate speech, as well as on Facebook's policies on removal of posted comments.
Statutory organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK. The SIA reports to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act (2001). The SIA's Chief Executive, William A Butler, gave evidence.
British multinational telecommunications company, with headquarters in London. Told the Inquiry of being approached by the Metropolitan Police Service in 2006 and informed that unauthorised individuals had gained access to the voicemail boxes of its customers. Gave evidence on the security measures that had been taken to improve security since.