ProfessionalVendor-neutralISACA· issued from US

CDPSE

Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer

ISACA certification for Privacy Engineering. Focus on technical implementation of privacy requirements: Privacy Governance, Privacy Architecture, and Data Lifecycle Management. Bridge between privacy and technology.

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Exam fee

$760

Ongoing

$45/yr AMF · 20 CPE/yr

Study time

60–120 hrs

Delivery

Test center

Validity

3 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

23.5 / 40

Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.

Blueprint rigor

How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.

ISACA's data-privacy solutions engineer ECO ties privacy controls to engineering tasks.

8.0/10

Practical evidence

Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.

Pure MCQ. No applied design artefact.

1.5/10

Currency & upkeep

How aggressively content is kept current with the field.

Refreshed alongside ISACA's privacy practice updates.

7.5/10

Market recognition

How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.

Recognised among privacy-engineering candidates; CIPT is a slightly more common signal. [Holders: 10k, 2024-12]

6.5/10

› Market signals

public, citable inputs to the recognition score

Holders worldwide

10,000

as of 2024-12 · source

› Built for these roles

Privacy EngineersData Privacy ArchitectsPrivacy Coordinators

› Exam format

150 questions, 3.5 hours, 450/800

Passing score

450/800 (scaled)

Retake policy

Fee: $575 per attempt

Wait: 30d between attempts

Cap: 4 attempts/year

ISACA member $575 / non-member $760. 4 attempts per rolling 12-month window.

› Recertification

120 CPEs per 3-year cycle, $45/$85 AMF

› 3-year cost of ownership

Exam (1×)

$760

AMF (3×)

$135@$45/yr

Total

$895

Excludes study materials, training, retake risk, and lost-wage opportunity. Use as a floor estimate.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

OG-WRL-008

Recognition

Global

Exam languages

› Core domains covered

The 3 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A12Data Security, Privacy & Protection

Data classification, encryption-at-rest/in-transit, DLP, tokenization, privacy-by-design, plus the regulatory stack (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA) that sets the bar.

A4Application Security

OWASP Top 10, secure SDLC, SAST/DAST/IAST, API security, code review, DevSecOps.

A6Identity & Access Management

AuthN/AuthZ, SSO, MFA, PAM, RBAC/ABAC, identity governance, FIDO2/passkeys, plus non-human identity: service accounts, workload identity, agent / plugin identities.