[Term of the Day]: Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Term of the Day
"Data Protection Officer"
Definition — What is a DPO?
A DPO is considered to be an enterprise security role to help an organization to ensure compliance with personal data protection laws such as CCPA, GDPR and PDPA.
His primary role is to ensure that there is a strategy including policies, processes and procedures are in place across an organization. He also ensures that the organization processes the personal data of its employees, customers, service providers or any other individuals (also referred to as data subjects) in compliance with the applicable data protection rules.
The responsibilities of a DPO include:
- Designing and implementing policies and processes for managing personal data to ensure compliance with data protection laws.
- Guiding organizations and their employees on data protection obligations.
- Tracking performance and advising on likely results of data protection measures.
- Handling issues related to data protection, data breach, Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs), etc.
- Regular assessment of data processing activities to monitor compliance with data protection laws.
- Reporting to concerned authorities in case of security risks that might occur concerning sensitive personal information.