Health Information Compliance Alert

Need a privacy officer? If so, your search for a privacy staffer is only clicks of the mouse away, thanks to a newly spawned Web site for privacy-related employment.

In answer to the growing concerns among consumers and employers relating to privacy issues, the Hackensack, NJ-based non-profit group Privacy & American Business an arm of the think tank Center for Social & Legal Research announced July 17 the creation of the nation's first online privacy and privacy-related job employment Website,Privacy Job Opportunity Boards(P-JOBs).

According to P&AB, P-JOBs will allow corporations, federal and state governments and other organizations in the U.S. and abroad who are concerned with privacy matters to target their search for privacy officers and advertise other privacy-related job openings to candidates who know or desire to enter the privacy domain.

P-JOBs will be divided into three units: 1) P-JOBs will advertise mid- to high-level positions relating to privacy, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act administration, HR administration, database management, legal counsel, marketing, corporate communications, new product development, and information security; 2) P-JOBsPlus will be used to contact high-level privacy executives or chief privacy officers who oversee privacy matters for an entire organization; and 3) P-Temps will aid companies in their search for temporary staffers for special projects and as consultants.

The demand for professionals who have experience with privacy issues is rapidly growing, says Dr. Alan Westin, president and publisher of P&AB. "Smart organizations are looking for both experienced and entry level privacy and privacy-related staffers to ensure confidence in their consumer and employee activities," he says.

The service is slated to be fully operational by September 3 of this year. Until that time, it will be temporarily located at P&AB's Web site, www.pandab.org. Since no registration is required, job seekers may search the site for free, while companies wishing to post their privacy employment opportunities will need to pay a "nominal fee" for the service between $200 and $300 with discounts for multiple listings and other services, according to Lorrie Sherwood, P&AB's executive director.

Sherwood tells Eli the support the company has received from privacy officers and offered from other companies involved in hiring privacy staffers has helped to temper some of the burdens the developers of the Web site had to overcome, such as creating their own privacy policy, creating a rate card for service fees and terms and conditions for use of the site.

As far as what served as the catalyst for creating the service, Sherwood says there were myriads of individuals and companies who contacted P&AB searching for privacy officers, as well as requests from the P&AB's own members to see what types of positions were available in the industry: "It's been going on for over a year, and it just seems that with [the Gramm-Leach-Bliley] and HIPAA requirements kicking in, that more and more companies are going to become aware of the need for privacy personnel," she offers.

From now until October 1, job postings will be free, so that people will have an opportunity to view what the site has to offer, says Sherwood.