CPO: Someone Who Can Keep A Secret

There are already over 200 Chief Privacy Officers in major corporations in the United States, including those in American Express, Delta Air Lines and Mutual of Omaha.

Experts say that by 2005 most mid-size to large firms will have one.

To help with the situation, there is the Association of Corporate Privacy Officers in Hackensack, NJ, and that organization and the Privacy Council in Dallas offer certification in privacy oversight qualification.

The first job of the CPO is to understand how a company leverages the information it collects for profit. The hardest job of the CPO is making sure the company does what it says it does. The CPO, in the end, is responsible for any mistakes the company makes.

Copyright © 2001 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 11, No. 6, 7/01