ESOMAR Data Protection Checklist

Global Chief Privacy Officer at Ipsos since 2017, having previously been the principal legal advisor on data protection matters. Has presented and spoken at various national and international conferences, including the ICDPPC.

Kim L. Smouter Umans is currently ESOMAR's Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee. Kim L. Smouter Umans is also Director General of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), having joined the organisation in March 2022. Kim previously worked as ESOMAR’s Head of Public Affairs and Professional Standards, where he led ESOMAR's efforts championing the value of market, opinion and social research and data analytics.

Kim also served a stint as Secretary General of the European Network of National Civil Society Associations. As its first Secretary General, Kim laid the foundations for securing its role and its future as one of Europe’s leading bodies defending the interests of the non-profit sector by bringing together over 20 national civil society infrastructure platforms.

He has also served in various policy roles working for the North-East England Office in Brussels and in the European Parliament, working in the fields of social policy, education, and employment. 

He holds a master’s degree in European Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in European Studies and is a graduate of the University of Maastricht.

Judith Passingham has worked in the Market Research industry for over 35 years, in many  different roles from General Management, Client Account Leadership, Service Development, to Sales and Operations – on a Global and European basis.

She started her career at the British Market Research Bureau working on the TGI and various media measurements, then working at AGB, subsequently TNS where she ran the UK and then global panel division as CEO of ‘Worldpanel ‘ and as Joint CEO of Europanel – a joint venture between TNS and GFK.

Judith was appointed CEO of TNS Europe and then following the WPP acquisition of TNS oversaw the integration of RI and TNS in Northern and Eastern Europe. In 2014 Judith joined Ipsos to run its Access Panel services where she drove service integration into one global entity, launched device agnostic interviewing and programmatic sampling.

In 2016 she took on responsibility for Ipsos’s Operational capability. She retired in 2019 and volunteers for Pilotlight and for the Maple Lodge Nature Reserve.  In January 2020 she was appointed as Chair of the Professional Standards Committee for ESOMAR.

Prof. Dr. Raimund Wildner has been active at the GfK Group since 1984, helping to build the GfK BEHAVIORSCAN® micro test market starting in 1985, and in 1988 established the GfK Groupʼs Method and Product Development Department, which he ran until 2009. In 1995, he also became the managing director the GfK Verein and assumed the position of vice president ten years later as well. Currently, he is Vice President at Nuremberg Institute for Market Dicisions (NIM) e.V.

Raimund Wildner is the former honorary professor of business administration and statistics at the Faculty of Law and Economics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and was a regular guest lecturer at various colleges and universities. Furthermore, he has published numerous articles in the field of marketing science, particularly on the application of statistical methods in market research, and is co-author of the books „Panels in der Marktforschung“ and „Marktforschung – Grundlagen der Datenerhebung und Datenanalyse“.

Philippe is the former Managing Director of Toluna France and Senior Vice President Quality of the Group. He is now a consultant in research methodology for companies and SYNTEC Conseil, and contributes to the dissemination of rules, standards and best practices in the industry through conferences, academic courses and articles, including his "Did you know?" section on the French website MRNews.

In the 1980s, he developed advanced statistics, survey methodologies and new marketing approaches in research agencies. Then in the 90s, he initiated the survey digitisation by launching an international panel of Internet users, the web audience measurement and the sampling/questionnaire adaptation to the Internet. In 2007, he joined Toluna, a French start-up, to bring his methodological expertise and make it the world's #2 online panel and survey solution. 

Philippe is a member of the ESOMAR Professional Standards Committee since 2014.

Reg is the North American Regional Ambassador for ESOMAR, the global voice of the data, research and insights community. He also serves as a consultant to ESOMAR's Professional Standards Committee.

Previous to his work with ESOMAR, he was Executive Director of the Marketing Research Institute International (MRII). Prior to his retirement from full-time work in 2012, Reg was President and Chief Operating Officer of Market Strategies International, a US-based custom research and analytics company. Before joining Market Strategies in 1995, he served as Vice President of Research Services for NORC at the University of Chicago.

Throughout his career, Reg focused on the methodological and operational implications of new data technologies. He writes and presents on these and related topics to diverse national and international audiences and blogs off and on as “The Survey Geek.”

Kathy Joe served for many years as Director of International Standards and Public Affairs at ESOMAR before retiring in 2016. She currently still works periodically for ESOMAR as its Editorial Consultant for Research World.

Prior to working for ESOMAR, Kathy worked at The Economist and Euromoney and gained a BSc Hons in Politics and Sociology from the University of Southampton in the UK.

With a passion for research and insights and long experience in working with global teams to formulate editorial content, privacy policies and professional standards, she has worked with research professionals from around the world on far-ranging topics including innovation and best practice in consumer insights, knowledge and strategy.

As ESOMAR Director of International Standards, Kathy led the development and promotion of global research codes and privacy guidelines.

She volunteers for projects with NGOs such as Amnesty International and is a Board Member and Secretary of Dance Connects.