The Emerging CPO -- Chief Privacy Officer.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Brief Article

Responding to the public outcry over online privacy concerns, a growing number of companies in the online sector -- roughly 100 to date -- have named corporate privacy officers (CPOs) to board-level positions, according to the META Group, an information technology research and information provider.

In December, IBM became the largest company to create the position, naming Harriet P. Pearson as CPO to articulate software privacy policy for IBM and its customers. Pearson is also expected to develop policy and work with software/technology groups to ensure that all parties adhere to IBM's privacy standards. Congress is even said to be considering the creation of a "privacy czar" for the U.S. government.

"The rise of CPOs shows how companies have steadily evolved and matured their business planning around the privacy challenge," says Mike Gotta, a group analyst with META. He adds, "Privacy is more than technology standards and posting of privacy policies on Web sites, CPOs unify privacy practices and investments across the organization, ensuring that privacy compliance with applicable laws and regulatory statutes becomes ingrained within everyday business operations."

Gotta says that publicizing the position demonstrates senior management's commitment to consumers, employees and stockholders. But to be successful, he adds, a GPO program requires management structures, resource allocation and funding similar to those required by other major...