Employers Seek Skilled Privacy Pros
To ensure the effectiveness of your data compliance programme, critical business data should be kept secure and safe from the hands of questionable characters and sensitive data footprints should be minimised. Nowadays, CIPM Certifications are available to help Data Protection Officers (DPOs) from the private and public sectors.
The CIPM Certification is also designed for those who want to get an international certification in data privacy. Nowadays, data compliance programmes are approached as a process rather than a project. That said, most employers now prefer hiring skilled privacy professionals.
Hiring a DPO is considered a crucial step in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). DPOs are responsible for monitoring the privacy and protection of personal data. The said individual needs to effectively navigate technological, political, and functional obstacles that are inherent to the role.
Below are some of the traits employers look for in skilled privacy pros:
Ability to Translate Information to Various Parties.
It is the responsibility of the DPO to educate the organisation on their data privacy responsibilities. As different departments will be using various types of data in diverse ways, a DPO must be able to translate information for each of the unique cases.
Whether it’s the IT trying to manage and store data or the marketing department analysing data for competitive advantage, the ability to understand each use case is important. It is also crucial that a DPO educate respective parties on data protection best practices.
Awareness of the Technological Challenges.
While the GDPR will require extensive procedural changes to business practices, it can also be a massive technological challenge. While there might be several candidates who understand the regulatory components, finding a candidate who understands the technology requirements is considered rare.
The right DPO who truly understands what the role entails and will be up to date of the technology challenges of compliance with the GDPR and realise the difficulty of meeting them with conventional approaches to information management.
It is vital to hire a Data Protection Officer who understands the responsibilities and expectations of the role, is up-to-date with the technological challenges of GDPR compliance, and realizes the difficulties of achieving them using conventional data management approaches.
Thorough Understanding of Data Privacy.
When it comes to data privacy, there are two lines of reasoning. On one end of the spectrum, there is the school of thought that believes “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” In other words, if organisations stay away from personal data, there will be no infringement on data privacy. However, this is easier said than done.
If the organisation has personal data that they choose to ignore, it becomes impossible to ensure it stays safe. Without awareness of the personal data an organisation has, it would be impossible to control access privileges, delete unnecessary data, or quarantine sensitive information.
An organisation needs to know exactly what personal data it has in its care and how it is being used so the proper restrictions can be applied. A good DPO will understand this and will work with the organisation to create an effective system of information governance.
Strong Diplomacy and Advocacy Skills
Because of the nature of the role, the DPO will work independently and at the same time as an advocate for outside parties like data protection regulators and data subjects.
DPOs will also need the ability to maintain the right balance between being an advocate for the data subject and collaborator within the organisation. High degrees of integrity, diplomacy, and tact will be required for navigating these uncharted waters.
