The privacy profession is evolving well beyond the position of the chief privacy officer.
Summary: Organizations with privacy offices are recruiting and training privacy professionals to focus on specific areas of the business. Moreover, far from being a dead-end role with an unclear career trajectory, privacy positions are playing a pivotal role within the organization.
In 2011, organizations will increase their hiring of privacy professionals, reversing the head count loss privacy offices experienced during the economic downturn.
Privacy protection as a professional skill set
Organizations will have a better understanding of the complex nature of privacy protection and their need to do a better job of managing the associated risk and compliance obligations.
Several organizations are improving the privacy function by merging information security, privacy and other functions (HR, legal, sourcing) into virtual information risk governance organizations, which take a more holistic approach to data protection. This also encourages more proactive compliance with privacy requirements, rather than attempting to inject privacy after the fact.
Beyond professionals that solely focus on privacy, many positions that impact the organization’s use of personal information will become increasingly savvy about privacy risk and compliance matters. In 2011, we will see individuals in areas such as IT, audit, legal and marketing add privacy to their skill sets.
“As the privacy profession evolves, I expect we’ll see continued focus on regulatory risk and information technology, but perhaps with an added dose of ethics and social responsibility added in. No longer will this be a role of just lawyers advising IT professionals or tech experts challenging regulatory norms. Collaborative technologies are challenging our notions of what is ‘good’ — what is good for our children, our communities, our society — in terms of how much information we share and keep indefinitely. We need responsible leaders, in corporations, the government and civil society, to address these questions.”Nuala O’Connor Kelly, Senior Counsel, Information Governance & Chief Privacy Leader, General Electric; Chairman of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Executive Committee
More will opt to get privacy certifications
To accommodate that growth, individuals seeking privacy certifications will rise in 2011.
For example, Ernst & Young in the US has added Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) as one of the professional certifications an employee may earn to be promoted in our Advisory Services group.
In 2011, this and other certifications will become more professional, allowing individuals to be certified in focused areas, such as jurisdictional regulation, IT or industry-specific privacy requirements.
| Two considerations for privacy professionals |
- Consider specific positions in your organization that can benefit from additional training and certification in privacy.
- Identify specific certification requirements for professionals handling personal information in marketing, IT, internal audit, compliance and legal in your organization.
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