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What Is a Privacy Manager and How to Become One


What Does a Privacy Manager Do?

A privacy manager is responsible for risk management and data security for an organization. In this career, you achieve this security by ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and implementing a privacy program for the company to keep information safe. The information you protect can be employee biometric data, consumer credit card information, or simpler things, like sales information and market reports. As the privacy manager, you are considered the subject matter expert when it comes to risk management and data security, so your daily duties involve providing advice in these areas, working with cybersecurity teams on potential breaches, managing issue resolution, and other responsibilities depending on the industry.

How to Become a Privacy Manager

To meet the qualifications to become a privacy manager, you must obtain a college degree in a related field and earn certified information privacy manager (CIPM) status through an accredited training course. Typically, a bachelor's degree, the CIPM certification, and some experience in the field is enough to qualify for the job, but at larger organizations or government agencies, you may need a master's degree or additional certifications and experience. Knowledge of cyber security is essential to this role, as are strong organizational skills. Communication skills are also a major requirement for this role since you work with a variety of individuals at all levels of the organization day-to-day.