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How To Get Started in Privacy Law
This resource provides insight on increasing your knowledge, visibility and marketability as you get started with a career in privacy law.
Last updated: November 2021
Data privacy is one of the defining social and cultural issues of our time. Topics such as AI and ethics, online tracking and facial recognition are hotly debated, and privacy laws exist to ensure we get outcomes that benefit society as a whole. This resource from the IAPP offers ideas on how to increase your knowledge, visibility and marketability as you get started with a career in privacy law.
How To Get Started in Privacy Law
1. If you are still in law school:
- Take courses in data privacy law, admin law, international law, computer crime, intellectual property, constitutional law.
- Take courses outside the law school in technical areas (data science, AI, computer science, cybersecurity) or business.
- Create a privacy-related writing sample through a journal note or seminar paper and try to get it included in the IAPP Daily Dashboard.
- Practice privacy skills through an internship or externship with a local in-house privacy lawyer, government privacy office, think tank or civil rights advocacy organization.
- Consider getting an IAPP certification such as the CIPP/E or CIPP/US.
2. Seek out post-graduate fellowships
- There are many available in organizations with a privacy focus such as the IAPP, the Future of Privacy Forum, or others.
3. Look beyond big law firms
- Do not limit yourself as to where you might work or what your title might be. Consider in-house positions in compliance or legal departments, consulting firms, or openings in government offices.
4. Search
- The IAPP’S Career Central page lists a variety of privacy careers.
- Utilize websites like LinkedIn and even career resources provided by governments.
5. Write about privacy issues
- Pick a topic that interests you, get smart about it, and start writing. Blogs, papers, op-eds – even social media posts – all help you stand out in the field.
- Platforms like LinkedIn make it easy to self-publish. Also consider reaching out to the editor of the IAPP’s publications, who will often publish or link to your work.
6. Become an expert on your own privacy
- Learn to follow your data. Understand where it goes and who controls it.
- Learn how to manage your privacy with mobile device settings, encryption, etc.
7. Network, network, network: Engage with privacy professionals
- Become a member of the IAPP and the Privacy Bar Section.
- Attend IAPP privacy conferences, KnowledgeNet Chapter Meetings, and After Hours events. Some conferences provide scholarships for students. Or get accepted as a session speaker to receive a speaker pass.
- Reach out to privacy professionals in your community and arrange to meet for coffee.
8. Earn privacy credentials
- Get certified as a privacy professional.
- Earn privacy-related continuing education credits through conferences, trainings, etc.
9. Stay informed about privacy issues
- Subscribe to mailing lists: IAPP Daily Dashboard, Law360 Privacy, Morning Consult Tech, New York Times Bits, ReCode, TechCrunch.
- Follow interesting people (and those they follow) on Twitter and/or other social media.
- Frequently visit websites of privacy regulators such as the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and various data protection authorities in the EU and U.K.
10. Find a niche
- Pick a piece of privacy legislation and make it your specialty. You have to start somewhere, and having an area of focus makes it easier to wrap your head around how the law works. A particular interest also demonstrates to employers that you are dedicated to the field.