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The Privacy Advisor | Gender by the Numbers in Data Protection Authorities Related reading: Evolving privacy law 'exciting' for IAPP Westin Scholar

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With the very popular Women Leading Privacy events here at Summit, we added a wrinkle to a recent effort to update the information for contacting global DPAs. What's the gender equality look like in DPA leadership? A cursory glance at the numbers would tell a casual observer that, out of 150 Data Protection Authorities, 74 of them are headed by men, 42 are headed by women and 34 are non-agency safeguards, such as court systems. But those numbers do not tell the whole story.

Europe, with a total of 88 DPAs (nearly 60% of all DPAs globally), has only about a ratio of 1:2 females to males in privacy leadership positions. Whereas in North America, which has 17 DPAs, the reverse is true, with women heading DPAs at a ratio of 2:1. 

Asia currently has 16 DPAs, eight of which are led by a male, two of which are female led and six of which are non-agency positions or safeguards. Africa, with its 12 DPAs, has almost the exact same ratio of male to female leaders of DPAs as Asia with 4:1. However, there are a total of seven non-agency safeguards in Africa. This could indicate that the trend in African countries is to lean towards a non-agency body to handle privacy concerns and issues, as opposed to relying on regulatory or governmental agencies.  

South America only has male led and non-agency DPAs, with the males holding six of the eight DPA leadership positions. This is a reverse of Central America where there are only three DPAs, two of which are non-agency, and one of which is led by a female. Finally, Australia and New Zealand manage to have their six DPAs leadership positions divided evenly between men and women, resulting in a ratio of 1:1.

As nations around the globe respond to their citizens' concerns about privacy, perhaps there will be a shift in the gender numbers for leaders of DPAs. Many of the DPAs have only been created in the past 10 years, such as with Senegal’s Privacy Commission being created within the past year, and as globalization continues more DPAs can be expected to appear. How the gender lines will shift among the DPAs in the future with various regional, and cultural, developments is anyone's guess.

Make sure, however, to refer often to our DPAs contact page in the Resource Center. It's a benefit for IAPP members.

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