Shields was made a Life Peer in the House of Lords in 2014, and later was Minister for Internet Safety and Security under David Cameron and Theresa May.

[4][8] In late 2006 Shields was approached by Benchmark Capital to step in as CEO of the social networking startup Bebo.

Bebo's development continued under Shields with the release of Timeline in 2009, the first social network to organise and represent life events in a linear way.

[14] In 2009 Shields was recruited by former Google colleague Sheryl Sandberg to run Facebook in Europe, Middle East & Africa as VP & managing director.

Shields is married to Andy Stevenson, Sporting Director of the Aston Martin in Formula One racing team.