CMU launches new privacy engineering options

As new privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act require companies to improve the way they handle user privacy, more and more working professionals are seeking formal training in privacy engineering.

“While we’ve offered a full-time Master’s degree program in privacy engineering since 2013, until now we haven’t had an option for those seeking privacy engineering training while continuing to work,” says CyLab’s Lorrie Cranor, co-director of CMU’s Privacy Engineering Program and a professor in the Institute for Software Research and the department of Engineering and Public Policy.

Now, CMU is offering two flexible options for privacy engineering education and training. The first will allow working professionals to pursue the Master of Science in Information Technology - Privacy Engineering (MSIT-PE) degree part-time and remotely. Depending on the number of courses taken per semester, the part-time degree program can be completed in between two and four years.

Working professionals no longer need to quit their jobs and move to Pittsburgh to pursue this degree ...

Norman Sadeh, co-director, Privacy Engineering Program

“Working professionals no longer need to quit their jobs and move to Pittsburgh to pursue this degree and receive the training they need,” says CyLab’s Norman Sadeh, co-director of CMU’s Privacy Engineering Program and a professor of computer science in the Institute for Software Research.

For working professionals who aren’t able to commit to a part-time Master’s degree program, CMU is now offering an additional option: a privacy engineering certificate that can also be obtained remotely. The certificate program comprises a combination of mini-tutorials, class discussions, and hands-on exercises aimed at delivering the fundamentals of privacy engineering.

“The idea behind the privacy engineering certificate is that working professionals can learn the key concepts in privacy engineering on the weekend over the course of just two months,” says Sadeh.

The certificate program is available to individual students as well as cohorts of 15-25 students from a single organization.

According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Privacy Engineers in the U.S. earn an average salary of $136,000. Those with a Privacy Technologist certification earn over $170,000.

“Graduates from our privacy engineering programs will be well-equipped to compete in this emerging, fast-growing job market,” says Cranor.

To learn more about the part-time MSIT-PE program, visit the Privacy Engineering Program website.

To learn more about the privacy engineering certificate program, visit the Privacy Engineering Certificate page.