Salaries in the balance

When it comes to salary, privacy experts get their fair share when compared with many other professions outside of security, earning a mean salary of $101,146. But within the privacy profession itself, wide disparities in compensation persist.

According to a recent salary study by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and the Ponemon Institute, more than 70% of respondents reported earning anywhere from $60,000 to $150,000. On the low end, privacy professionals who work in the health-care industry -- 56% of the respondents -- earn 10% to 15% less in total compensation than their privacy peers in telecommunications, financial services and manufacturing. Of all the privacy professionals surveyed, more than half with job descriptions that involved data protection earned less than those with jobs that focused strictly on privacy.

"The 2003 Privacy Professional Salary Survey Report" is based on information from 207 privacy professionals. The respondents hold titles that range from chief privacy officer to compliance officer.

A number of factors could be responsible for the inconsistencies in compensation, according to Trevor Hughes, executive director of the IAPP. Federal regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) demand that health-care companies employ more privacy officers to deal with compliance issues. And those privacy officers are compensated at a junior level.

In addition, dedicated privacy experts are a relatively new phenomenon. As a result, companies have very little outside information or precedent on which to rely when setting compensation. To compare the salaries of chief privacy officers with the salaries of CSOs, read "Coming of Wage."

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.