Maria Murphy

Maria Murphy is an Associate Professor at Maynooth University’s Department of Law, Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Her work focuses on technology and human rights intersections, particularly privacy, data protection, and artificial intelligence regulation.

• PhD (Irish Research Council funded) – University College Cork, 2013
• LLM (magna cum laude) – Temple University, Philadelphia
• BCL (First Class Honours) – University College Cork

Her research explores:

• Data protection and AI governance
• Surveillance law and privacy rights
• EU-UK data transfer dynamics
• Citizen juries in online harms legislation
• Legal frameworks for digital evidence
• Technological solutions to privacy challenges

Recent publications address:

• Meta’s GDPR compliance through data protection by design
• EU-UK adequacy decision risks
• Algorithmic surveillance ethics
• GPS tracking jurisprudence

She teaches:

• Postgraduate: Information Privacy Law (LW647), Information Technology Law (LW685)
• Undergraduate: Media Law (LW360), Civil Liberties (LW455)

Professional roles include:

• Board Member, Center for AI and Digital Policy (2020–present)
• Legal Working Group, National Standards Authority of Ireland AI Top Team (2021–2023)
• Chair, Irish Council for Civil Liberties Subcommittee on Research and Policy (2017–present)