What is a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)?

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is fundamentally a tool used to evaluate the privacy implications of a new project or system. This process involves identifying how personal data is collected, used, shared, and stored, and determining potential risks to an individual’s privacy.

Conducting a PIA typically helps organizations understand their privacy obligations and the potential impacts of their actions on individuals' privacy rights. It also aids in identifying the necessary measures to mitigate risks and ensure compliance with relevant privacy laws and regulations. By systematically analyzing the data flow and assessing potential threats to privacy, a PIA is instrumental in promoting accountability and protecting individual privacy.

Understanding this aspect of PIAs is crucial for privacy professionals as it underpins the proactive approach to privacy management, enabling organizations to address issues before they arise rather than react to them post-factum.