While our IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress is a mere two months away, this week in privacy news would not be complete without a close-up look at the IAPP Privacy Academy and CSA Congress, which comes to an end today in San Jose, CA. For those of us who were unable to make the trip to the U.S. to take part in this year’s event, here are just a few of the topics to come out of the first sessions of that event that are of special interest to readers here in the EU:

• What's the Average Budget for a Fortune 1000 Privacy Program?

This spring, the IAPP looked at privacy professionals' roles in organizations worldwide, but as our members come from all manner of industries and hold a range of titles, it was hard to pinpoint just what kinds of privacy programs were represented. So the IAPP sharpened its focus to get sample that was alike in crucial ways and has unearthed some good benchmarking data, with an overview here from IAPP Publications Director Sam Pfeifle.

• Managing Your Privacy Program and Justifying Why You Exist

My colleague Angelique Carson, CIPP/US, writes in her report from the Privacy Academy and CSA Congress for The Privacy Advisor, “It might be a sad truth, but it's likely the truth nonetheless: The most important job for any privacy professional, before even caring for data, is continually justifying why you exist. If you don't exist, the data is significantly less likely to stay safe and be used correctly, after all.” She’s reporting on a session on how to manage an effective privacy program, where Chris Zoladz, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPP/G, CIPT, CIPM, and Jay Cline, CIPP/US, discussed how privacy professionals can produce the metrics to justify their existence, rally a team and be prepared for even those worst-case scenarios.

• Tips for Writing a Solid Privacy Notice

Another in-depth preconference workshop at the IAPP Privacy Academy and CSA Congress provided insight from some of the privacy world's top legal, operational and regulatory voices, including Ireland Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes. My colleague Jedidiah Bracy, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, writes of the workshop's takeaways for The Privacy Advisor, “Start-ups and emerging businesses sprinting toward profit have a complex privacy landscape to navigate, but there are several helpful bits of insight that may help mitigate common mistakes, particularly in drafting privacy notices.”

And, of course, there is plenty of news being generated right here in the EU as well, with stories below on cookies, data retention, apps and more.