It’s no surprise, we have certificates that cover everything for any business niche or area, so data privacy is no exception.
However, this sizzling hot area is now in the spotlights, with over 500,000 DPOs (maybe even more, the numbers keep changing) did require some standardization.
According to the DPM blog:
At this moment, several certifications in the data privacy domain exist. Some are issued and maintained by well-known not-for-profit organizations whose main activities cover advancing data privacy issues. And then there are others, including those issued by commercial enterprises, who provide all sorts of data privacy related services besides certifications.
I personally, have only reviewed and read materials for certain privacy certifications and haven’t taken an exam, but through the entire process, I kept thinking, is this going to bring any value for me as a professional or my company. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
Since I do have some background in law, I wasn’t so taken aback by legal wording, and most of the people who think about getting a privacy certificate are lawyers, for others, this may be quite a walk uphill. However, I think this is not a prerequisite or a deal-breaker.
Drivers for privacy certification
There are 4 major privacy certificates:
1. CIPP- Certified Information Privacy Professional and covers specifics about data privacy laws and regulations and how to apply them. Upon fulfilling all requirements, the designee can demonstrate their mastery of jurisdictional laws, regulations, and enforcement models, along with legal requirements for handling and transferring data.
The certification comes in four distinct flavors, or concentrations, each covering a specific region. Thus we have CIPP/E for Europe, CIPP/A for Asia, CIPP/C for Canada, and CIPP/US for the US private sector.
2. CIPM- Certified Information Privacy Manager shows that the person has the necessary expertise to establish, maintain, and manage a privacy program across all stages of its life cycle.
3. CIPT- Certified Information Privacy Technologist. The primary target audience is professionals in the technology, information security and engineering fields.
With the CIPT designation, they will be in a position to demonstrate that they have the practical knowledge to apply privacy and data protection practices in the development, engineering, deployment, and auditing of products and services.
4. CDPSE — Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) is technical certification assessing a technology professional’s ability to implement privacy by design to enable organizations to enhance privacy technology platforms and products that provide benefits to consumers, build trust and advance data privacy.
