Certified Privacy Professionals Needed Now More Than Ever

In 2013, Max Schrems, at the time an Austrian law student, filed a complaint against Facebook contending that the company failed to adequately protect EU citizens’ data when it was transferred to the United States, due to the surveillance revelations produced by Edward Snowden. In the aftermath of the legal battles that followed, Safe Harbor, the mechanism that enabled transfers of data between the EU and the U.S. crumbled and had to be replaced with what’s now known as Privacy Shield. At the same time, EU lawmakers were updating the hoary Data Protection Directive of 1996, creating the General Data Protection Regulation, which was enacted in 2016 and due to come into force in May 2018, creating ripples felt all over the globe.

Not only is there a looming requirement for approximately 75K new data protection officers in Europe, but any company that does business in Europe, or with European citizens, is now on notice that scrupulous transfer mechanisms must be in place.
And perhaps you’ve noticed that a few companies around the world have had issues with data breaches?

As the certification director at the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), I’ve seen firsthand the effect that these legal challenges, high-profile privacy breaches, and new privacy regulations have had on the panoply of professionals working in the global digital economy. From privacy professionals all over the world, I’ve been hearing the same message: We need training and certification programs that prepare us to operationalize privacy law in our organizations. This refrain came from individual entrepreneurs, people managing small chains of concerns in Asia, even global consulting firms.

However, while the IAPP has had established privacy certifications for Europe, the United States, and Canada for many years with our flagship Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) credential, we’ve also been supporting members across the globe and monitoring emerging markets for certification. For example, with its thriving international business climate, Asia has been on our radar for a few years, and after a year and a half of development, this January we launched the CIPP/A, which covers mature privacy law in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the IT act in India. We’re committed to expanding this credential to cover other countries and regions in this swiftly-maturing region, as well.
Australia and New Zealand, which have highly-developed privacy communities, will get their own certification later this year, and a CIPP/Latin America is in the planning stages.

But even for those regions where privacy has been a mature profession, growth has been dynamic. When we looked for beta testers for our updated European exam (which would reflect the changes initiated by the GDPR), 300 people responded — about four times our monthly testing numbers — and 200 signed up for the operational version in the first month. That’s 500 people in two months intent on verifying their fluency with the new EU law! Another development that underscores the global demand for privacy is the steady stream of requests we receive for translated certification exams and other content. As a result, we’re translating some of our most popular exams into French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish. Concurrently, we’re incorporating foreign language programming into our events, webinars, and publications.

Another data point that signals the expansion of privacy is the demand for fundamental privacy chops among employees whose job descriptions seemingly have little to do with privacy. To serve the host of data handlers in any organization, the IAPP created Privacy Core, a growing library of highly interactive e-training programs for scores of business sectors. Right now there are 74 modules (including five devoted to the HR community) that have been translated into 14 languages.

In the current privacy landscape, there is a high demand for capable, informed professionals who handle privacy in all industries and business sectors, like healthcare, finance, education, and human resources. Interestingly, women have always been entrenched among the privacy profession’s highest echelons, with salaries on par with men. In fact, one of the first privacy professional’s subgroups was the Women Leading Privacy group, which grew organically from small groups of women meeting privately into a vibrant community that brings together many of today’s top women privacy professionals who give and get career support, help advance women in the field, and expand their personal and professional networks.

The emergence of privacy law as a unique body of knowledge and practice has precipitated the establishment of privacy studies in law schools like the University of Maine and the University of California Santa Clara, among others. The current state of privacy education and collaboration has resulted in a demand for certification programs from privacy professionals themselves who are thirsty for more education, more validation of the profession, more events, and more networking opportunities.  

Privacy is one of those subjects that seems esoteric or theoretical until it isn’t. I recently received a letter from an online retailer I frequent. The company informed me that during the holidays, its servers were compromised and that my credit card number, CVV, and password may have been stolen. Privacy is organizational AND personal; we need an army of battle-tested professionals to balance business needs while protecting one of our most fundamental human rights.

And we’re training them as fast as we can!

Doug Forman, Certification Director of the International Association of Privacy Professionals

Doug Forman is the certification director at the International Association of Privacy Professionals, where he oversees the administration of the organization’s seven certification programs, four of which are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Previously, Doug developed statewide educational assessments for two industry leaders. He has a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida.