Giovanni Buttarelli (24 June 1957 – 20 August 2019)[1] was an Italian civil servant, who served as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).

[5] Before joining the EDPS, Buttarelli worked as Secretary General[6] of the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian Data Protection Authority, between 1997 and 2009.

He graduated “cum laude” from La Sapienza University in Rome in 1984, where he also worked as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law.

He was appointed as a Professor at the Faculty of Law at Lumsa University in Rome, in 2005, where he lectured on the Protection of Personal data and Fundamental Rights in Italy and Europe.

[7] He was also appointed to the High Level Policy Panel of the European Project on "Public Perception of Security and Privacy: Assessing Knowledge, Collecting Evidence, Translating Research Into Action[8] - PACT (285635)” by the Peace Institute of Oslo.

He was also a member of several inter-ministerial committees concerning, among other topics, immigration, racial discrimination, community fraud, de-criminalisation, tax reforms, computer crime laws, access to confidential records and the digitalisation of public administrative agencies.

From 1997 to 2009, Buttarelli worked as Secretary General at the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian Data Protection Authority.