Schaumburg, Ill. (May 4, 2020) — Headline-grabbing events and regulations have made it clear to organizations just how essential it is to prioritize data privacy. However, new research from ISACA indicates that many organizations are struggling in this space.
More than one-quarter of organizations say it is difficult to understand all their privacy requirements, and 40 percent say they lack competent resources to implement a successful privacy program, which requires expertise in technical implementation that goes beyond awareness of regulatory requirements.
Given the high stakes for organizations and the great need for qualified professionals to create privacy solutions that are aligned with organizational goals and risk appetite, ISACA is launching its new Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) certification.
The first experience-based, technical certification of its kind, CDPSE assesses 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.
Professionals can begin to apply for the CDPSE certification starting today as part of a limited early-adoption opportunity in which those who have the necessary experience can become certified.
This includes those who have five years of work experience performing the work described within the exam content outline, with this experience earned in at least two of the CDPSE exam content outline domains. For those holding a CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC or CSX-P certification, the work experience requirement decreases to three years.
"Many technology professionals have a basic understanding of the legal requirements involved in new privacy laws and regulations, but they are missing the in-depth ability to implement them into their existing and future systems, networks and applications," says Nader Qaimari, ISACA Chief Learning Officer.
"Up until now, certifications have primarily focused on the legal aspect with limited technical coverage. ISACA's CDPSE certification fills a gap and allows privacy technologists to demonstrate they understand the technical aspects of creating and managing privacy programs and solutions to ensure compliance and mitigate risk."
CDPSE offers a natural progression for IT professionals who are tasked with designing, implementing and managing the technology that stores, collects and transports PII, as well as ensuring that privacy is considered in the design.
As privacy requires complex collaboration across multiple functions in an organization, CDPSE is also designed to validate privacy technologists' ability to work cross-functionally with the legal team, policy department, engineers, software developers, database administrators, and back-end and front-end experts, while playing a key role throughout the planning, development and delivery of IT privacy solutions.
"If an organization is storing data about people, implementing a comprehensive privacy solution is incredibly important. Building this solution entails bridging the gap between the legal and IT sides of data privacy, setting best practices aligned with organizational goals," says David Bowden, CISM, CIPT, CIPM, PMP, CSM; Vice President, Information Security, Data Privacy, Compliance & Information Technology, Zwift, Inc., and member of ISACA's privacy advisory group.
"The privacy technologists who have the experience and credentials to validate this knowledge will not only be able to play an integral part in driving these privacy solutions, but also play a major role in earning and retaining customer trust and providing organizations with a competitive advantage."
More information on the early-adoption phase of the CDPSE certification, as well as additional privacy resources and guidance, can be found at www.isaca.org/cdpse.
About ISACA
For more than 50 years, ISACA (www.isaca.org) has advanced the best in technology. ISACA equips individuals with knowledge, credentials, education and community to progress their careers and transform their organizations. Through the CSX, COBIT and CMMI solutions, ISACA enables enterprises to train and build quality teams. ISACA is a global professional association and learning organization that leverages the expertise of its 145,000 members who work in information and cyber security, governance, assurance, risk and privacy to drive innovation through technology. It has a presence in 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide.
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