Roles and Responsibilities of a Data Protection Officer

Table of Contents

What is a Data Protection Officer?
Why become a Data Protection Officer?
Skills of a Data Protection Officer
Roles of a Data Protection Officer
Responsibilities of a Data Protection Officer

What is a Data Protection Officer?

A Data Protection Officer or DPO is responsible for planning, establishing, and enforcing data protection policies, as well as securing sensitive information and making specified data available according to organizational needs. Data Protection Officers play a critical role in ensuring that your company complies with data protection and privacy regulations such as GDPR and European Privacy.

Why become a Data Protection Officer?

Implementing security measures and monitoring traffic is only the beginning of data privacy and protection solutions. Businesses want a Data Protection Officer who can see the large picture of the entire data ecosystem and help them to keep all data safe.

A Data Protection Officer is required if a company’s primary functions include processing sensitive or confidential data on a large scale or the frequent and systematic surveillance of individuals on a large scale. Simply said, data is valuable, and anyone who can safeguard it is in high demand.

They can help you monitor internal compliance, inform and advise you on your data protection obligations, provide guidance on Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), and serve as a point of contact for data subjects and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Skills of a Data Protection Officer:

• They exhibit good leadership abilities.
• They have good communication skills.
• They have a background in cybersecurity.
• They have expertise in auditing.
• They are skilled negotiators.

Roles of a Data Protection Officer:

• Data Protection Engineer: Data Protection Engineer assists in the selection, implementation, and design of appropriate technical and organizational solutions to meet specified data protection principles.
• Storage Data Protection Engineer: Storage Data Protection Engineers are responsible for maintaining, upgrading, and productizing current and future storage backup infrastructures.
• Data Security Engineer: Data Security Engineers specialize in building and supervising technology security systems in order to safeguard those systems and their linked systems from the consequences of various types of cybercrime.
• Data Privacy Consultants: Data Privacy Consultants are in charge of designing and executing privacy and data protection solutions, which include people, processes, and technologies, in order to close gaps in the existing situation.

Responsibilities of a Data Protection Officer:

A Data Protection Officer’s principal responsibility is to guarantee that the organization’s data subjects’ personal data is processed in conformity with applicable data protection legislation.

Some of the responsibilities of a Data Protection Officer are:

• They must have a thorough awareness of the data protection laws that relate to the company and be able to interpret, apply, and execute best practices.
• They aid businesses in keeping track of their processing activities (ROPAs), Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), and other privacy-related policies and procedures.
• They monitor data flows and information storage to achieve long-term compliance and also devise a plan to warn third parties and remote workers when sensitive data is shared and processed.
• They develop a privacy governance environment that removes all blind spots by utilizing monitoring technologies.
• They report data breaches to teams and authorities. When data theft occurs, they take an active role in resolving the situation.
• They instill a security-conscious culture throughout the company.
• They provide cybersecurity training and data privacy educational programs for every employee, regardless of their position.
• They provide GDPR compliance training to all employees of the company.
• They help with the production and distribution of training materials as well as communications about privacy.
• They aid business process owners in the management of local information asset inventories and the integration of privacy processes.

Data Protection Officer at InfosecTrain

Organizations require Data Protection Officers to manage their data privacy and data protection policies, ensuring that they are implemented throughout all organizational units and that personal data is processed in a compliant manner. If you want to become one, InfosecTrain can provide you with all the necessary training and support. You can enroll in our General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and European Privacy training courses to improve your expertise in data protection and establish yourself as a Data Protection Officer.

You can also enroll in our ‘Introduction of Data Privacy’ self-paced learning course to learn data privacy fundamentals.

TRAINING CALENDAR of Upcoming Batches For CIPP/E

AUTHOR
Monika Kukreti ( )
Infosec Train

“ Monika Kukreti holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering. She is a voracious reader and a keen learner. She is passionate about writing technical blogs and articles. Currently, she is working as a content writer with InfosecTrain. “