Privacy Law Specialist FAQs
Below you will find common questions about the Privacy Law Specialist certification.
For all other questions about certification, please
The IAPP Privacy Law Specialist™ (PLS) Ethics Exam is a one-hour, 15-question, multiple choice test based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Candidates are required to either pass the IAPP Privacy Law Specialist™ Ethics Exam or submit a recent (within five years) MPRE score of 80+.
Candidates must correctly answer 11 out of 15 questions to pass. Each question includes a short scenario and four answer options, one of which is correct. The topics include: safeguarding information, fee sharing, advertising, conflict of interest, professional independence, unauthorized practice of law, client communication, evidence and privilege, competence, candor, and organization as client.
You can schedule your IAPP PLS Ethics Exam through the Purchases section of your MyIAPP account once you have purchased the bundle.
Individuals may expect their materials to be imported into their MyIAPP account, under “My Purchases,” within 72 hours of purchasing the PLS bundle.
That’s great news! You’re already halfway there. You can purchase whatever you still need individually, such as training, an exam (including the PLS Ethics Exam) and exam prep materials. All products can be found in the IAPP Store.
Please note: Splitting, swapping or transferring of this bundle to another individual is not allowed.
Yes, we do! They are not available as part of the online bundle, but you can purchase in-person or live online training, the exams (including the PLS Ethics Exam) and exam prep materials for the designation you need separately from the bundle. All products can be found in the IAPP Store. In-person and live online trainings are offered through both the IAPP and the IAPP’s Official Training Partners.
The content is the same for all trainings — the only difference is in the delivery.
In-person training follows a traditional classroom setup. You and your classmates attend at a specific location, date and time for learning led by an expert instructor.
Live online training is also led by an expert instructor at a specific date and time. The difference is you and your classmates can attend from anywhere in the world where there is internet access. You can even ask questions and converse with the instructor and other trainees via a real-time chat function.
Traditional online training is available from anywhere you have internet access. It is self-paced and includes no “live” instruction.
There is no official IAPP study guide for this exam.
The Ethics Exam is a one-hour, 15-question, multiple choice test based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Candidates must correctly answer 11 out of 15 questions to pass. Each question includes a short scenario and four answer options, one of which is correct. The topics include: safeguarding information, fee sharing, advertising, conflict of interest, professional independence, unauthorized practice of law, client communication, evidence and privilege, competence, candor, and organization as client.
If you fail the exam, you may contact the IAPP at cbt@iapp.org for access to a free retake exam.
You can exit online training and return at any time to pick up where you left off.
Your course never expires and you may view it as many times as you like. In fact, we recommend reviewing the content within each module more than once to increase retention.
Your bundle includes digital versions of the official textbooks for the CIPP/US and CIPM programs:
- "U.S. Private-Sector Privacy: Law and Practice for Information Privacy Professionals"
- "Privacy Program Management: Tools for Managing Privacy Within Your Organization"
Please refer to the CIPP/US and CIPM Bodies of Knowledge and Exam Blueprints. They will help you discover which areas you may need to focus on more than others, based on your existing knowledge of the subject matter. The Body of Knowledge is a comprehensive outline of all the subject matter covered on the exam. The Exam Blueprint gives you an idea of how many questions from each topic area you can expect.
No, there is not a mobile app. Although some of the features of the online courses will work on a tablet, they are not yet fully compatible with all mobile devices. You can view our trainings online, but you cannot download them. Trainings are best accessed through a browser window.
Pearson Vue is the IAPP’s computer-based testing (CBT) provider. You may sit for your exam at one of Pearson Vue’s 6,000+ testing locations around the globe or test online from the comfort of your home or office with remote proctoring. You have one year to schedule and take your exam(s) from date of purchase.
Yes. You are allotted 2.5 hours for the CIPP/US and CIPM exams and 1 hour for the PLS Ethics Exam. You can find more information about the exam structure and process in the IAPP Certification Candidate Information Handbook. Exams are available at our 6,000 computer-based testing centers worldwide.
Certification candidate handbook
We strongly encourage all potential test takers to read our certification candidate handbook before testing for details on our testing policies and procedures.