ELI5: What is a Privacy Impact Assessment?
Before building a new app, you stop and ask “could this accidentally share people’s secrets?” It’s like checking the rules before starting a game to make sure nobody gets hurt.
Definition
A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), also called a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) under GDPR, is a formal process for evaluating the privacy risks of a new project, system, or business process before it is implemented. It identifies what personal data will be collected and processed, assesses the risks to individuals’ privacy, and documents the controls that will be implemented to mitigate those risks. GDPR requires DPIAs for processing activities that present a “high risk” to individuals’ rights and freedoms.
Key Details
- GDPR Article 35 mandates DPIAs for: large-scale processing of sensitive data, systematic monitoring of public areas, automated decision-making with significant effects on individuals
- Key PIA elements: description of processing, necessity/proportionality assessment, risk identification, and proposed risk mitigation measures
- PIAs should be completed before a system is built or a process is implemented — after the fact is too late
- PIAs may be required by law (GDPR, some US state laws) or as part of organizational policy for all new projects involving personal data
- Exam tip: PIAs/DPIAs are a privacy by design tool; they ensure privacy risks are considered during system design, not after deployment
Connections
- Parent: privacy — PIAs are the primary mechanism for proactive privacy risk assessment
- See also: privacy-by-design
- See also: gdpr