CIPP/E exam annual update (Sept 1, 2020)

CIPP/E exam annual update (September 1, 2020)

From September 1, 2020, the IAPP CIPP/E exam undergoes a small annual update. 10% of the body of knowledge and the exam blueprint are adjusted. Let’s take a look a the (major) changes.

  • Please note: This year, the CIPP/E exam will experience an annual update that goes into effect July 1, 2021. Learn more.
  • Interested in CIPP/US? See this blog post about the update of the CIPP/US exam.

CIPP/E Update

The exam is still made up of three parts.

The first thing to notice is that even more emphasis has been placed on the GDPR, which is part II of the exam. About 42 to 69 out of a total of 90 questions are now asked about the GDPR.

The distribution of exam questions within part II has also changed considerably. This has focused more on data subject rights (8 to 11 questions) and accountability requirements (4 to 7 questions). This is mainly at the expense of the subject of international data transfers. The topics of information provision obligations and security of personal data continue to weigh heavily.

Fewer questions are now being asked about topic III. The number of questions on topic I remains the same.

The chapters in the official textbook are similar to the subjects in the exam blue print. The average number of questions per chapter will be (in descending order):

Chapter 9 9,5 questions
Chapter 10 7 questions
Chapter 8 6,5 questions
Chapter 11 5,5 questions
Chapter 3 5 questions
Chapter 12 5 questions
Chapter 4 4,5 questions
Chapter 6 4,5 questions
Chapter 7 4 questions
Chapter 15 4 questions
Chapter 17 4 questions
Chapter 5 3 questions
Chapter 13 3 questions
Chapter 14 3 questions
Chapter 18 3 questions
Chapter 16 2,5 questions
Chapter 2 1,5 questions
Chapter 1 0,5 question

New exam topics

The second thing to note is about the content. The exam blueprint has three additions:

  • Auditing of privacy programs, under II, H;
  • Biometrics/facial recognition, under III, B;
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI), under III, D.

Download the official IAPP CIPP/E blueprint here. All changes are marked (yellow). We see that the same three topics have been added to the Body of Knowledge. These are topics II.H.6, III.B.5 and III.D.5.

According to the IAPP, the complete 2020 update covers the three topics mentioned, but also:

  • The third countries concept
  • Convention 108
  • EDPB Guidelines on the territorial scope of the GDPR
  • Processing of personal data through video devices
  • Roles of the lead supervisory authority
  • Right to be forgotten in search engine cases
  • Data security issues and Article 32

Recommended reading

The latest version of the official textbook, European Data Protection – second edition, is from December 2019. The official textbook has not yet been updated with all the above changes. So it is wise to read IAPP articles on the above topics that are not included in the official textbook. We therefore recommend reading the following (at least the first three!):

CIPP/E (or CIPP/US – CIPM) exam prep

We offer a great exam prep course including an up to date and detailed outline of the entire textbook (latest edition), IAPP style practice questions and various training videos. This combination ensures optimum preparation for the exam and a high chance of excelling at your first try. Register here.

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