Civil Servant Joseph Ebejer has accepted an invitation by the Prime Minister to become the new Data Protection Commissioner, timesofmalta.com has learnt.

Mr Ebejer was nominated for the post after agreement between the Prime Minister and Opposition leader Joseph Muscat.

He will take up his appointment at a time when data protection is high on the political agenda - both the PL and the PN have lodged complaints against each other over an e-mail sent by PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier on the management of complaints made by individuals to government ministries.

The PL has claimed that the e-mail shows that data on individuals is being transferred from the government to the PN, something which the PN has denied. Dr Borg Olivier has complained, however, that the e-mail, sent in error to PL general secretary Jason Micallef, should never have been published by Mr Micallef because it was sent to him in error.

Mr Ebejer, who has served as permanent secretary at the Ministry of Social Policy, succeeds Paul Mifsud Cremona, who passed away in August.

The Data Protection Office was set up after legislation in the year 2000.