The Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) is a senior level executive within a business or organization who is responsible for managing the risks and business impacts of privacy laws and policies.

The position was first established at the Internet advertising firm AllAdvantage in August 1999, when it appointed privacy lawyer Ray Everett-Church to the newly created position, starting a trend that quickly spread among major corporations, both offline and online. The role of the Chief Privacy Officer was solidified within the U.S. corporate world in November 2000 with the naming of Harriet Pearson as Chief Privacy Officer for IBM Corporation. That event prompted one influential analyst to declare, "the chief privacy officer is a trend whose time has come." [1] AllAdvantage was an Internet advertising company that positioned itself as the world’s first “infomediary” by paying its users/members a portion of the advertising revenue generated by their online viewing habits. ... now. ...

By 2001, the non-profit research organization Privacy and American Business reported that a significant number of Fortune 500 firms had appointed senior executives with the title or role of Chief Privacy Officer. The growth of the Chief Privacy Officer trend was further fueled by the European Union's passage in the late 1990s of data privacy laws and regulations that included a requirement for all corporations to have an individual designated to be accountable for privacy compliance. The Fortune 500 is a ranking of the top 500 United States corporations as measured by gross revenue. ...

By 2005, trade groups and professional societies promoting training and certification in privacy management practices boasted thousands of members spanning hundreds of major corporations, with hundreds of executives seeking certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.