What Is Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)? - Definition From

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How is a PIA performed?

PII and related data are typically implemented on a variety of information systems. As a result, an organization's IT department is often the first point of contact for a PIA. Human resources departments also handle a lot of personal data. All systems in development as well as in production are candidates for PIAs.

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Templates and software packages are available to assist in developing PIAs. They generally follow these basic steps:

  1. Secure approval from management to conduct a PIA.
  2. Define the purpose and goals of the PIA.
  3. Establish a PIA team to gather data and perform the assessment.
  4. Gather data, such as statistics on data protection activities and systems, types of data stored and how privacy is assured.
  5. Identify the privacy controls to be assessed.
  6. Determine if the assessment will be performed manually using a template or using software designed to perform assessments.
  7. Conduct the assessment, ensuring the controls are addressed and evidence of how privacy is maintained is provided.
  8. Schedule a preliminary review of the draft report with stakeholders.
  9. Complete the report, including updates with amendments from the review process, and present the finished report to management.
List of key components in a typical data privacy program
Data privacy strategies require several different components.

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