What is covered on the CDPSE exam?
The Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer® (CDPSE®) exam consists of 120 questions covering 3 job practice domains, all testing your knowledge and ability on real-life job practices leveraged by expert professionals.
Below are the key domains, subtopics and tasks candidates will be tested on:
ISACA’S commitment
Since its inception in 2020, more than 16,000 people have obtained ISACA’s CDPSE certification to validate their expertise in the technical skills and knowledge it takes to assess, build and implement comprehensive privacy solutions. The domains, subtopics and tasks are the results of extensive research, feedback and validation from subject matter experts and prominent industry leaders from around the globe.
Job practice areas tested for and validated by a CDPSE certification
34% DOMAIN 1 – PRIVACY GOVERNANCE (GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT & RISK MANAGEMENT)
Identify issues requiring remediation and opportunities for process improvement.
- Identify the internal and external privacy requirements specific to the organization's governance and risk management programs and practices.
- Participate in the evaluation of privacy policies, programs and policies for their alignment with legal requirements, regulatory requirements and/or industry best practices.
- Coordinate and/or perform privacy impact assessments (PIA) and other privacy-focused assessments.
- Participate in the development of procedures that align with privacy policies and business needs.
- Implement procedures that align with privacy policies.
- Participate in the management and evaluation of contracts, service levels and practices of vendors and other external parties.
- Participate in the privacy incident management process.
- Collaborate with cybersecurity personnel on the security risk assessment process to address privacy compliance and risk mitigation.
- Collaborate with other practitioners to ensure that privacy programs and practices are followed during the design, development and implementation of systems, applications and infrastructure.
- Develop and/or implement a prioritization process for privacy practices.
- Develop, monitor and/or report performance metrics and trends related to privacy practices.
- Report on the status and outcomes of privacy programs and practices to relevant stakeholders.
- Participate in privacy training and promote awareness of privacy practices.
- Identify issues requiring remediation and opportunities for process improvement.
36% DOMAIN 2 – PRIVACY ARCHITECTURE
Collaborate with other practitioners to ensure that privacy programs and practices are followed during the design, development and implementation of systems, applications and infrastructure.
- Coordinate and/or perform privacy impact assessment (PIA) and other privacy-focused assessments to identify appropriate tracking technologies and technical privacy controls.
- Participate in the development of privacy control procedures that align with privacy policies and business needs.
- Implement procedures related to privacy architecture that align with privacy policies.
- Collaborate with cybersecurity personnel on the security risk assessment process to address privacy compliance and risk mitigation
- Collaborate with other practitioners to ensure that privacy programs and practices are followed during the design, development and implementation of systems, applications and infrastructure.
- Evaluate the enterprise architecture and information architecture to ensure it supports privacy by design principles and considerations.
- Evaluate advancements in privacy-enhancing technologies and changes in the regulatory landscape.
- Identify, validate and/or implement appropriate privacy and security controls according to data classification procedures.
30% DOMAIN 3 – DATA LIFECYCLE
Participate in the development of data lifecycle procedures that align with privacy policies and business needs.
- Identify the internal and external privacy requirements relating to the organization's data lifecycle practices.
- Coordinate and/or perform privacy impact assessments (PIA) and other privacy-focused assessments relating to the organization’s data lifecycle practices.
- Participate in the development of data lifecycle procedures that align with privacy policies and business needs.
- Implement procedures related to data lifecycle that align with privacy policies.
- Collaborate with other practitioners to ensure that privacy programs and practices are followed during the design, development and implementation of systems, applications and infrastructure.
- Evaluate the enterprise architecture and information architecture to ensure it supports privacy by design principles and data lifecycle considerations.
- Identify, validate and/or implement appropriate privacy and security controls according to data classification procedures.
- Design, implement and/or monitor processes and procedures to keep the inventory and dataflow records current.
SUPPORTING TASKS
- Identify the internal and external requirements for the organization’s privacy programs and practices.
- Participate in the evaluation of privacy policies, programs and policies for their alignment with legal requirements, regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
- Coordinate and/or perform privacy impact assessment (PIA) and other privacy-focused assessments.
- Participate in the development of procedures that align with privacy policies and business needs.
- Implement procedures that align with privacy policies.
- Participate in the management and evaluation of contracts, service levels and practices of vendors and other external parties.
- Participate in the privacy incident management process.
- Collaborate with cybersecurity personnel on the security risk assessment process to address privacy compliance and risk mitigation.
- Collaborate with other practitioners to ensure that privacy programs and practices are followed during the design, development and implementation of systems, applications and infrastructure.
- Evaluate the enterprise architecture and information architecture to ensure that it supports privacy by design principles and considerations.
- Evaluate advancements in privacy-enhancing technologies and changes in the regulatory landscape.
- Identify, validate and/or implement appropriate privacy and security controls according to data classification procedures.
- Design, implement and/or monitor processes and procedures to keep the inventory and dataflow records current.
- Develop and/or implement a prioritization process for privacy practices.
- Develop, monitor and/or report performance metrics and trends related to privacy practices.
- Report on the status and outcomes of privacy programs and practices to relevant stakeholders.
- Participate in privacy training and promote awareness of privacy practices.
- Identify issues requiring remediation and opportunities for process improvement.
Getting ready for the exam
ISACA offers a variety of exam preparation resources including group training, self-paced training and study resources in various languages to help you prepare for your certification exam. Choose what works for your schedule and your studying needs.
Download exam terminology list
While studying for your CDPSE exam, explore our lists of terms that will appear on the test. See the terms in English alongside how they will appear in the other languages offered.