Merlin Hay

Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay, is the 24th Earl of Erroll. He is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords, one of the hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords. He is also Chief of Scottish clan Hay, and Lord High Constable of Scotland. Hay has enjoyed a successful career working in information technology, his main area of expertise is in internet security. Hay has worked on projects with smartcards and electronic purses, and has also worked in marketing and consultancy.

He has an extensive network of contacts across government, industry and the city, and is a professional public speaker, especially on ICT, security, legislation, the citizen and the state, and the internet, as well as traditional themes.

In a more traditional role Sir Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll, 25th Lord Hay, 24th Lord Slains, 12th Bt (Moncreiffe of that Ilk), 28th Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, 32nd Chief of The Hays takes an interest in charity as a member of the Court of the Fishmongers’ Livery Company, as Vice-President of The Royal Caledonian Ball, through The Highland Society of London and the British Red Cross Queen Mother’s Memorial Fund. He helps promote Scotch Whisky as a Patron of the Keepers of the Quaich and is one of the founders of Secret Sommelier, a weblog about wine.

He is married to Isabelle, who runs a farming estate in Bedfordshire. They have four children. Parliament, policing and personal protection in the 21st century Wednesdy 17 September, 15:40 - 16:20, Rotterdam Hall

Lord Erroll, in his usual outspoken manner, will address a number of issues that are crucial if we are to be succesful at reducing e-crime and promoting security. He will discuss the issues surrounding national e-crime units and why resource allocation choices that seem sensible now may not be so sensible in the long run. In addition, Lord Erroll will also share his views on accountability and liability in relation to ISPs and banks and will explain why he is strongly in favour of data breach disclosure laws. These laws, if properly implemented, can help us gain insight into the extent of the problem of data exclusivity breaches. But while governments certainly have responsibilities to their citizens, Lord Erroll does not propose heavy legislation. Indeed, he argues that governments may sometimes be part of the problem and should be regarded with a healthy dose of suspicion.

Affiliations

• GiroVend, Director of Development
• All Party Internet Group in the Lords, Secretary
• Science and Technology Select Committee, spokesman on Personal Internet Security.
• E-business Regulatory Alliance, President
• EURIM Director (parliamentary/industry group)
• Keepers of the Quaich Patron
• Technis Non-executive director
• Local Authority Smartcard Standards e-Organisation (LASSeO)
• Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, (PITCOM) sits on the council
• All-Party Communications Group, (APCOMMS) Secretary
• All-Party Group on Entrepreneurship Vice-Chairman
• All-Party Group on Risk and Adventure in Society Treasurer
• In 2007 he sat on the Science & Technology Select Committee’s sub-committee on Personal Internet Safety.
• Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Policy Advisory Body
• Nominet (UK) Ltd. Policy Advisory Body
• Territorial Army 22 years service