Five years after GDPR came into effect, thousands of new Data Protection Officers have been nominated, however, their level of proficiency is extremely variable. Moreover, some countries, like Germany have had DPO for many decades where others, especially recent EU members only introduce the role a few years ago. The need to recruit, train and educate DPO is therefore very high as well as very different across European countries. 

The role of the Data Protection Officer has greatly evolved since the nomination of the first DPO in the Land of Hesse, Germany in 1971. Originally designed to protect citizens privacy against too much scrutiny from the state, it shall now protect people from the invasive curiosity of private companies, large and small, as well as from increasingly active criminal organizations. New EU regulations aim at controlling large internet actors with the Digital Services Act and the Data Marketing...