[1] The role of CPO is an expanding profession within the United States and other countries, such as Canada and South Africa.
It is difficult to determine the date on which the first campus privacy officer role was created; however among the first formal references to the specific role of campus privacy officer comes in a 2005 executive order by the Chancellor of the California State University system.
The first higher education institution to hire a chief privacy officer was the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.
[11] There have been specific instances where professionals in IT jobs have made unethical decisions with data concerning others.
CPOs help implement and design the courses that teach students how to practice making ethical decisions regarding data.
These policies aim for institutional accountability and transparency and the student's control and right of access to his data.
[14] When creating policy that guides learning analytics, CPOs must take into account the culture, technological capacities, and behaviors of the institution.
[18] Thus, privacy risks associated with potential GDPR exposure are likely to be an important component of a CPOs duties.
One notable aspect of the GDPR is a provision that, in certain circumstances, may require the appointment of a data protection officer (DPO).
If a student or parent believes that his university is not complying to FERPA's standards they are allowed to file a complaint to the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) in the U.S. Department of Education.
CPOs are responsible for creating educational tools that ensure campus officials who work with student health data are trained properly.
The main goal of these organizations is to provide CPOs with educational resources to help them stay updated with current privacy policy.
This prompted the two organizations to collaborate and release training that helps prepare higher education professionals to use this technology.
Educause' current mission is to help provide privacy professionals with the resources and training they need to be successful in their roles.
The publication releases information about the recent advancements in technology and their potential impact on higher education.
The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) is a privacy organization composed of more than 7,000 members.
SCCE members come from a variety of different fields, such as education, aerospace, banking, construction, entertainment, government, financial services, food and manufacturing, insurance, and gas and oil.
SCCE helps their members stay updated on laws regarding privacy and ethics by hosting events or providing training videos and books.
Both faculty and students in this study emphasized the need to create educational tools that explain these existing privacy policies.
[3] However, a 2016 study on South African universities highlighted how higher education institutions are not yet equipped to manage student data in a secure way.