Privacy Commissioner Alexander White has predicted that the introduction of the Personal Information Protection Act 2016 could herald a “tidal wave” of demand for local privacy experts.

For those looking to ride the trend, the TLC Group is offering two privacy officer certification courses kicking off on Friday.

“Under Pipa organisations are required to name privacy officers,” TLC Group partner Cha’von Clarke-Joell said. “Local businesses will therefore, be looking to hire a privacy officer, train a staff member or take on the role of privacy officer on their own.

“The TLC Group is offering privacy officer courses to help organisations understand the roles and characteristics of a privacy officer and to enhance knowledge, skills and qualifications for individuals to fulfil a privacy officer role under Pipa.”

Their privacy officer foundation course will cover topics such as key points in the legislation, responding to subject access requests, how to conduct a privacy impact assessment, Pipa 10 enactment, rights and lawful bases, why you need a privacy officer and characteristics of a privacy officer.

The TLC Group’s privacy officer foundation and practitioner combo course will cover the role of privacy officers, global data protection best practice, breach incident management, and steps to initiate and implement a Pipa compliance programme.

Participants of the combo course will also gain work experience to apply what they’ve learnt by conducting mini data privacy impact assessments/audits for local businesses.

Ms Clarke-Joell called this a “win-win” as organisations will know what they need to focus on, to demonstrate Pipa compliance, with a free report.

“We are offering a “five for 5 per cent” deal for five course bookings from the same organisation, and additional discounts for organisations looking to train multiple staff members on either of our privacy courses,” Ms Clarke-Joell said.

• TLC Group will be holding free webinars about their privacy courses tomorrow at 12pm and 6pm. To register and to learn more about the courses e-mail training@thetlcgroup.pro or call 536-1276. Also see https://thetlcgroup.talentlms.com/catalog/index