U.S. private-sector (CIPP/US) Exam IAPP Certification CIPP-US Test Questions

1. All of the following common law torts are relevant to employee privacy under US law EXCEPT?

2. Who has rulemaking authority for the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)?

3. Which of the following best describes an employer’s privacy-related responsibilities to an employee who has left the workplace?

4. SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION

When there was a data breach involving customer personal and financial information at a large retail store, the company’s directors were shocked. However, Roberta, a privacy analyst at the company and a victim of identity theft herself, was not. Prior to the breach, she had been working on a privacy program report for the executives.

How the company shared and handled data across its organization was a major concern. There were neither adequate rules about access to customer information nor

procedures for purging and destroying outdated data. In her research, Roberta had discovered that even low-level employees had access to all of the company’s customer data, including financial records, and that the company still had in its possession obsolete customer data going back to the 1980s.

Her report recommended three main reforms. First, permit access on an as-needs-to-know basis. This would mean restricting employees’ access to customer information to data that was relevant to the work performed. Second, create a highly secure database for storing customers’ financial information (e.g., credit card and bank account numbers) separate from less sensitive information. Third, identify outdated customer information and then develop a process for securely disposing of it.

When the breach occurred, the company’s executives called Roberta to a meeting where she presented the recommendations in her report. She explained that the company having a national customer base meant it would have to ensure that it complied with all relevant state breach notification laws. Thanks to Roberta’s guidance, the company was able to notify customers quickly and within the specific timeframes set by state breach notification laws.

Soon after, the executives approved the changes to the privacy program that Roberta recommended in her report. The privacy program is far more effective now because of these changes and, also, because privacy and security are now considered the responsibility of every employee.

Based on the problems with the company’s privacy security that Roberta identifies, what is the most likely cause of the breach?

5. The rules for “e-discovery” mainly prevent which of the following?

6. SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

You are the chief privacy officer at HealthCo, a major hospital in a large U.S. city in state A. HealthCo is a HIPAA-covered entity that provides healthcare services to more than 100,000 patients. A third-party cloud computing service provider, CloudHealth, stores and manages the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of these individuals on behalf of HealthCo. CloudHealth stores the data in state B. As part of HealthCo’s business associate agreement (BAA) with CloudHealth, HealthCo requires CloudHealth to implement security measures, including industry standard encryption practices, to adequately protect the data.

However, HealthCo did not perform due diligence on CloudHealth before entering the contract, and has not conducted audits of CloudHealth’s security measures.

A CloudHealth employee has recently become the victim of a phishing attack. When the employee unintentionally clicked on a link from a suspicious email, the PHI of more than 10,000 HealthCo patients was compromised. It has since been published online. The HealthCo cybersecurity team quickly identifies the perpetrator as a known hacker who has launched similar attacks on other hospitals C ones that exposed the PHI of public figures including celebrities and politicians.

During the course of its investigation, HealthCo discovers that CloudHealth has not encrypted the PHI in accordance with the terms of its contract. In addition, CloudHealth has not provided privacy or security training to its employees. Law enforcement has requested that HealthCo provide its investigative report of the breach and a copy of the PHI of the individuals affected.

A patient affected by the breach then sues HealthCo, claiming that the company did not adequately protect the individual’s ePHI, and that he has suffered substantial harm as a result of the exposed data. The patient’s attorney has submitted a discovery request for the ePHI exposed in the breach.

What is the most significant reason that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) might impose a penalty on HealthCo?

7. Which of the following is commonly required for an entity to be subject to breach notification requirements under most state laws?

8. What type of material is exempt from an individual’s right to disclosure under the Privacy Act?

9. According to FERPA, when can a school disclose records without a student’s consent?

10. What was the original purpose of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act?

11. Which of the following best describes what a “private right of action” is?

12. In 2014, Google was alleged to have violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) through its Apps for Education suite of tools.

For what specific practice did students sue the company?

13. Although an employer may have a strong incentive or legal obligation to monitor employees’ conduct or behavior, some excessive monitoring may be considered an intrusion on employees’ privacy?

Which of the following is the strongest example of excessive monitoring by the employer?

14. A law enforcement subpoenas the ACME telecommunications company for access to text message records of a person suspected of planning a terrorist attack. The company had previously encrypted its text message records so that only the suspect could access this data.

What law did ACME violate by designing the service to prevent access to the information by a law enforcement agency?

15. What practice does the USA FREEDOM Act NOT authorize?

16. The “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” presented in a 2012 Obama administration report is generally based on?

17. Based on the 2012 Federal Trade Commission report “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change”, which of the following directives is most important for businesses?

18. In which situation is a company operating under the assumption of implied consent?

19. SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

A US-based startup company is selling a new gaming application. One day, the CEO of the company receives an urgent letter from a prominent EU-based retail partner. Triggered by an unresolved complaint lodged by an EU resident, the letter describes an ongoing investigation by a supervisory authority into the retailer’s data handling practices.

The complainant accuses the retailer of improperly disclosing her personal data, without consent, to parties in the United States. Further, the complainant accuses the EU-based retailer of failing to respond to her withdrawal of consent and request for erasure of her personal data. Your organization, the US-based startup company, was never informed of this request for erasure by the EU-based retail partner. The supervisory authority investigating the complaint has threatened the suspension of data flows if the parties involved do not cooperate with the investigation. The letter closes with an urgent request: “Please act immediately by identifying all personal data received from our company.”

This is an important partnership. Company executives know that its biggest fans come from Western Europe; and this retailer is primarily responsible for the startup’s rapid market penetration.

As the Company’s data privacy leader, you are sensitive to the criticality of the relationship with the retailer.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), how would the U.S.-based startup company most likely be classified?

20. What is the most important action an organization can take to comply with the FTC position on retroactive changes to a privacy policy?

21. What is the main purpose of the CAN-SPAM Act?

22. Which of the following became the first state to pass a law specifically regulating the practices of data brokers?

23. According to Section 5 of the FTC Act, self-regulation primarily involves a company’s right to do what?

24. If an organization maintains data classified as high sensitivity in the same system as data classified as low sensitivity, which of the following is the most likely outcome?

25. What is the main reason some supporters of the European approach to privacy are skeptical about self-regulation of privacy practices?

26. SCENARIO

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Felicia has spent much of her adult life overseas, and has just recently returned to the U.S. to help her friend Celeste open a jewelry store in California. Felicia, despite being excited at the prospect, has a number of security concerns, and has only grudgingly accepted the need to hire other employees. In order to guard against the loss of valuable merchandise, Felicia wants to carefully screen applicants. With their permission, Felicia would like to run credit checks, administer polygraph tests, and scrutinize videos of interviews. She intends to read applicants’ postings on social media, ask QUESTION NO:s about drug addiction, and solicit character references. Felicia believes that if potential employees are serious about becoming part of a dynamic new business, they will readily agree to these requirements.

Felicia is also in favor of strict employee oversight. In addition to protecting the inventory, she wants to prevent mistakes during transactions, which will require video monitoring. She also wants to regularly check the company vehicle’s GPS for locations visited by employees. She also believes that employees who use their own devices for work-related purposes should agree to a certain amount of supervision.

Given her high standards, Felicia is skeptical about the proposed location of the store. She has been told that many types of background checks are not allowed under California law. Her friend Celeste thinks these worries are unfounded, as long as applicants verbally agree to the checks and are offered access to the results. Nor does Celeste share Felicia’s concern about state breach notification laws, which, she claims, would be costly to implement even on a minor scale. Celeste believes that

even if the business grows a customer database of a few thousand, it’s unlikely that a state agency would hassle an honest business if an accidental security incident were to occur.

In any case, Celeste feels that all they need is common sense C like remembering to tear up sensitive documents before throwing them in the recycling bin. Felicia hopes that she’s right, and that all of her concerns will be put to rest next month when their new business consultant (who is also a privacy professional) arrives from North Carolina.

Based on Felicia’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) plan, the business consultant will most likely advise Felicia and Celeste to do what?

27. The FTC often negotiates consent decrees with companies found to be in violation of privacy principles.

How does this benefit both parties involved?

28. SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

Larry has become increasingly dissatisfied with his telemarketing position at SunriseLynx, and particularly with his supervisor, Evan. Just last week, he overheard Evan mocking the state’s Do Not Call list, as well as the people on it. “If they were really serious about not being bothered,” Evan said, “They’d be on the national DNC list. That’s the only one we’re required to follow. At SunriseLynx, we call until they ask us not to.”

Bizarrely, Evan requires telemarketers to keep records of recipients who ask them to call “another time.” This, to Larry, is a clear indication that they don’t want to be called at all. Evan doesn’t see it that way.

Larry believes that Evan’s arrogance also affects the way he treats employees. The U.S. Constitution protects American workers, and Larry believes that the rights of those at SunriseLynx are violated regularly. At first Evan seemed friendly, even connecting with employees on social media. However, following Evan’s political posts, it became clear to Larry that employees with similar affiliations were the only ones offered promotions.

Further, Larry occasionally has packages containing personal-use items mailed to work. Several times, these have come to him already opened, even though this name was clearly marked. Larry thinks the opening of personal mail is common at SunriseLynx, and that Fourth Amendment rights are being trampled under Evan’s leadership.

Larry has also been dismayed to overhear discussions about his coworker, Sadie. Telemarketing calls are regularly recorded for quality assurance, and although Sadie is always professional during business, her personal conversations sometimes contain sexual comments. This too is something Larry has heard Evan laughing about. When he mentioned this to a coworker, his concern was met with a shrug. It was the coworker’s belief that employees agreed to be monitored when they signed on. Although personal devices are left alone, phone calls, emails and browsing histories are all subject to surveillance. In fact, Larry knows of one case in which an employee was fired after an undercover investigation by an outside firm turned up evidence of misconduct. Although the employee may have stolen from the company, Evan could have simply contacted the authorities when he first suspected something amiss.

Larry wants to take action, but is uncertain how to proceed.

In what area does Larry have a misconception about private-sector employee rights?

29. SCENARIO

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Noah is trying to get a new job involving the management of money. He has a poor personal credit rating, but he has made better financial decisions in the past two years.

One potential employer, Arnie’s Emporium, recently called to tell Noah he did not get a position. As part of the application process, Noah signed a consent form allowing the employer to request his credit report from a consumer reporting agency (CRA). Noah thinks that the report hurt his chances, but believes that he may not ever know whether it was his credit that cost him the job. However, Noah is somewhat relieved that he was not offered this particular position. He noticed that the store where he interviewed was extremely disorganized. He imagines that his credit report could still

be sitting in the office, unsecured.

Two days ago, Noah got another interview for a position at Sam’s Market. The interviewer told Noah that his credit report would be a factor in the hiring decision. Noah was surprised because he had not seen anything on paper about this when he applied.

Regardless, the effect of Noah’s credit on his employability troubles him, especially since he has tried so hard to improve it. Noah made his worst financial decisions fifteen years ago, and they led to bankruptcy. These were decisions he made as a young man, and most of his debt at the time consisted of student loans, credit card debt, and a few unpaid bills C all of which Noah is still working to pay off. He often laments that decisions he made fifteen years ago are still affecting him today.

In addition, Noah feels that an experience investing with a large bank may have contributed to his financial troubles. In 2007, in an effort to earn money to help pay off his debt, Noah talked to a customer service representative at a large investment company who urged him to purchase stocks. Without understanding the risks, Noah agreed. Unfortunately, Noah lost a great deal of money.

After losing the money, Noah was a customer of another financial institution that suffered a large security breach. Noah was one of millions of customers whose personal information was compromised. He wonders if he may have been a victim of identity theft and whether this may have negatively affected his credit.

Noah hopes that he will soon be able to put these challenges behind him, build excellent credit, and find the perfect job.

Consumers today are most likely protected from situations like the one Noah had buying stock because of which federal action or legislation?

30. How did the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

31. John, a California resident, receives notification that a major corporation with $500 million in annual revenue has experienced a data breach. John’s personal information in their possession has been stolen, including his full name and social security numb. John also learns that the corporation did not have reasonable cybersecurity measures in place to safeguard his personal information.

Which of the following answers most accurately reflects John’s ability to pursue a legal claim against the corporation under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?

32. SCENARIO

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Cheryl is the sole owner of Fitness Coach, Inc., a medium-sized company that helps individuals realize their physical fitness goals through classes, individual instruction, and access to an extensive indoor gym. She has owned the company for ten years and has always been concerned about protecting customer’s privacy while maintaining the highest level of service. She is proud that she has built long-lasting customer relationships.

Although Cheryl and her staff have tried to make privacy protection a priority, the company has no formal privacy policy. So Cheryl hired Janice, a privacy professional, to help her develop one.

After an initial assessment, Janice created a first of a new policy. Cheryl read through the draft and was concerned about the many changes the policy would bring throughout the company. For example, the draft policy stipulates that a customer’s personal information can only be held for one year after paying for a service such as a session with personal trainer. It also promises that customer information will not be shared with third parties without the written consent of the customer. The wording of these rules worry Cheryl since stored personal information often helps her company to serve her customers, even if there are long pauses between their visits. In addition, there are some third parties that provide crucial services, such as aerobics instructors who teach classes on a contract basis. Having access to customer files and understanding the fitness levels of their students helps instructors to organize their classes.

Janice understood Cheryl’s concerns and was already formulating some ideas for revision. She tried to put Cheryl at ease by pointing out that customer data can still be kept, but that it should be classified according to levels of sensitivity. However, Cheryl was skeptical. It seemed that classifying data and treating each type differently would cause undue difficulties in the company’s day-to-day operations. Cheryl wants one simple data storage and access system that any employee can access if needed.

Even though the privacy policy was only a draft, she was beginning to see that changes within her company were going to be necessary. She told Janice that she would be more comfortable with implementing the new policy gradually over a period of several months, one department at a time. She was also interested in a layered approach by creating documents listing applicable parts of the new policy for each department.

What is the best reason for Cheryl to follow Janice’s suggestion about classifying customer data?

33. Which of these organizations would be required to provide its customers with an annual privacy notice?

34. What is the most likely reason that states have adopted their own data breach notification laws?

35. Which of the following is NOT one of three broad categories of products offered by data

brokers, as identified by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)?

36. Which of the following laws is NOT involved in the regulation of employee background checks?

37. In March 2012, the FTC released a privacy report that outlined three core principles for companies handling consumer data.

Which was NOT one of these principles?

38. Which of the following federal agencies does NOT enforce the Disposal Rule under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)?

39. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), what is the most appropriate action for a car dealer holding a paper folder of customer credit reports?

40. In a case of civil litigation, what might a defendant who is being sued for distributing an employee’s private information face?