Data Protection Impact Assessments

At a Glance

• A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is a process to help you identify and minimise
the data protection risks of a project.

• You must do a DPIA for processing that is likely to result in a high risk to individuals. This
includes some specified types of processing. You can use our screening checklists to help you
decide when to do a DPIA.

• It is also good practice to do a DPIA for any other major project which requires the
processing of personal data.

• Your DPIA must:

• describe the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing;

• assess necessity, proportionality and compliance measures;

• identify and assess risks to individuals; and

• identify any additional measures to mitigate those risks.

• To assess the level of risk, you must consider both the likelihood and the severity of any
impact on individuals. High risk could result from either a high probability of some harm, or a
lower possibility of serious harm.

• You should consult your data protection officer (if you have one) and, where appropriate,
individuals and relevant experts. Any processors may also need to assist you.

• If you identify a high risk that you cannot mitigate, you must consult the ICO before starting
the processing.

• If you are processing for law-enforcement purposes, you should read this alongside the
Guide to Law Enforcement Processing.

• The ICO will give written advice within eight weeks, or 14 weeks in complex cases. If
appropriate, we may issue a formal warning not to process the data or ban the processing
altogether.

Checklists

DPIA awareness checklist

 We provide training so that our staff understand the need to consider a DPIA at the early stages
of any plan involving personal data.
 Our existing policies, processes and procedures include references to DPIA requirements.
 We understand the types of processing that require a DPIA and use the screening checklist to
identify the need for a DPIA, where necessary.
 We have created and documented a DPIA process.
 We provide training for relevant staff on how to carry out a DPIA.
DPIA screening checklist

 We consider carrying out a DPIA in any major project involving the use of personal data.
 We consider whether to do a DPIA if we plan to carry out any other:
 evaluation or scoring;
 automated decision-making with significant effects;
 systematic monitoring;
 processing of sensitive data or data of a highly personal nature;
 processing on a large scale;
 processing of data concerning vulnerable data subjects;
 innovative technological or organisational solutions;
 processing that involves preventing data subjects from exercising a right or using a service or
contract.

We always carry out a DPIA if we plan to:

 use systematic and extensive profiling or automated decision-making to make significant

decisions about people;
 process special-category data or criminal-offence data on a large scale;
 systematically monitor a publicly accessible place on a large scale;
 use innovative technology in combination with any of the criteria in the European guidelines;
 use profiling, automated decision-making or special category data to help make decisions on
someone’s access to a service, opportunity or benefit;
 carry out profiling on a large scale;
 process biometric or genetic data in combination with any of the criteria in the European
guidelines;
 combine, compare or match data from multiple sources;
 process personal data without providing a privacy notice directly to the individual in
combination with any of the criteria in the European guidelines;
 process personal data in a way that involves tracking individuals’ online or offline location or
behaviour, in combination with any of the criteria in the European guidelines;
 process children’s personal data for profiling or automated decision-making or for marketing
purposes, or offer online services directly to them;
 process personal data that could result in a risk of physical harm in the event of a security
breach.
 We carry out a new DPIA if there is a change to the nature, scope, context or purposes of our
processing.
 If we decide not to carry out a DPIA, we document our reasons.

DPIA process checklist

 We describe the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing.

 We ask our data processors to help us understand and document their processing activities and
identify any associated risks.
 We consider how best to consult individuals (or their representatives) and other relevant
stakeholders.
 We ask for the advice of our data protection officer.
 We check that the processing is necessary for and proportionate to our purposes, and describe
how we will ensure compliance with data protection principles.
 We do an objective assessment of the likelihood and severity of any risks to individuals’ rights
and interests.
 We identify measures we can put in place to eliminate or reduce high risks.
 We record our decision-making in the outcome of the DPIA, including any difference of opinion
with our DPO or individuals consulted.
 We implement the measures we identified, and integrate them into our project plan.
 We consult the ICO before processing, if we cannot mitigate high risks.
 We keep our DPIAs under review and revisit them when necessary.

Have we written a good DPIA?

A good DPIA helps you to evidence that:

• you have considered the risks related to your intended processing; and

• you have met your broader data protection obligations.

This checklist will help ensure you have written a good DPIA.

We have:

 confirmed whether the DPIA is a review of pre-GDPR processing or covers intended processing,
including timelines in either case;
 explained why we needed a DPIA, detailing the types of intended processing that made it a
requirement;
 structured the document clearly, systematically and logically;
 written the DPIA in plain English, with a non-specialist audience in mind, explaining any technical
terms and acronyms we have used;
 set out clearly the relationships between controllers, processors, data subjects and systems,
using both text and data-flow diagrams where appropriate;
 ensured that the specifics of any flows of personal data between people, systems, organisations
and countries have been clearly explained and presented;
 explicitly stated how we are complying with each of the Data Protection Principles under GDPR
and clearly explained our lawful basis for processing (and special category conditions if relevant);
 explained how we plan to support the relevant information rights of our data subjects;
 identified all relevant risks to individuals’ rights and freedoms, assessed their likelihood and
severity, and detailed all relevant mitigations;
 explained sufficiently how any proposed mitigation reduces the identified risk in question;
 evidenced our consideration of any less risky alternatives to achieving the same purposes of the
processing, and why we didn’t choose them;
 given details of stakeholder consultation (e.g. data subjects, representative bodies) and included
summaries of findings;
 attached any relevant additional documents we reference in our DPIA, e.g. Privacy Notices,
consent documents;
 recorded the advice and recommendations of our DPO (where relevant) and ensured the DPIA is
signed off by the appropriate people;
 agreed and documented a schedule for reviewing the DPIA regularly or when we change the
nature, scope, context or purposes of the processing;
 consulted the ICO if there are residual high risks we cannot mitigate.
 In brief

• What’s new under the GDPR?

• What is a DPIA?

• When do we need a DPIA?

• How do we carry out a DPIA?

• Do we need to consult the ICO?

• In more detail

What’s new under the GDPR?

The GDPR introduces a new obligation to do a DPIA before carrying out types of processing likely to
result in high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms. If your DPIA identifies a high risk you cannot
mitigate, you must consult us.

This is a key part of the new focus on accountability and data protection by design.

Some organisations already do privacy impact assessments (PIAs) as a matter of good practice. If so,
the concept will be familiar, but you still need to review your processes to make sure they comply
with GDPR requirements. DPIAs are now mandatory in some cases, and there are specific legal
requirements for content and process.

If you do not already have a PIA process, you need to design a new DPIA process and embed it into
your policies and procedures.

You also need to review your existing processing operations and decide whether you need to do a
DPIA, or review your PIA, for anything that is likely to be high risk. You do not need to do a DPIA if
you have already considered the relevant risks and safeguards in another way, unless there has been
a significant change to the nature, scope, context or purposes of the processing since that previous
assessment.

What is a DPIA?

A DPIA is a way for you to systematically and comprehensively analyse your processing and help you
identify and minimise data protection risks.

DPIAs should consider compliance risks, but also broader risks to the rights and freedoms of
individuals, including the potential for any significant social or economic disadvantage. The focus is
on the potential for harm – to individuals or to society at large, whether it is physical, material or
non-material.

To assess the level of risk, a DPIA must consider both the likelihood and the severity of any impact
on individuals.

A DPIA does not have to indicate that all risks have been eradicated. But it should help you
document them and assess whether or not any remaining risks are justified.

DPIAs are a legal requirement for processing that is likely to be high risk. But an effective DPIA can
also bring broader compliance, financial and reputational benefits, helping you demonstrate
accountability and building trust and engagement with individuals.
A DPIA may cover a single processing operation or a group of similar processing operations. A group
of controllers can do a joint DPIA.

It’s important to embed DPIAs into your organisational processes and ensure the outcome can
influence your plans. A DPIA is not a one-off exercise. You should see it as an ongoing process that is
subject to regular review.

When do we need a DPIA?

You must do a DPIA before you begin any type of processing that is “likely to result in a high risk”.
This means that although you have not yet assessed the actual level of risk, you need to screen for
factors that point to the potential for a widespread or serious impact on individuals.

In particular, the GDPR says you must do a DPIA if you plan to:

• use systematic and extensive profiling with significant effects;

• process special category or criminal offence data on a large scale; or

• systematically monitor publicly accessible places on a large scale.

When considering if your processing is likely to result in high risk, you should consider the relevant
European guidelines. These define nine criteria of processing operations likely to result in high risk.
While the guidelines suggest that, in most cases, any processing operation involving two or more of
these criteria requires a DPIA, you may consider in your case that just meeting one criterion could
require a DPIA.

The ICO also requires you to do a DPIA if you plan to:

• use innovative technology (in combination with any of the criteria from the European
guidelines);

• use profiling or special category data to decide on access to services;

• profile individuals on a large scale;

• process biometric data (in combination with any of the criteria from the European
guidelines);

• process genetic data (in combination with any of the criteria from the European guidelines);

• match data or combine datasets from different sources;

• collect personal data from a source other than the individual without providing them with a
privacy notice (‘invisible processing’);

• track individuals’ location or behaviour;

• profile children or target marketing or online services at them; or

• process data that might endanger the individual’s physical health or safety in the event of a
security breach.

You should also think carefully about doing a DPIA for any other processing that is large scale,
involves profiling or monitoring, decides on access to services or opportunities, or involves sensitive
data or vulnerable individuals.
Even if there is no specific indication of likely high risk, it is good practice to do a DPIA for any major
new project involving the use of personal data. You can use or adapt the checklists to help you carry
out this screening exercise.

How do we carry out a DPIA?

A DPIA should begin early in the life of a project, before you start your processing, and run alongside
the planning and development process. It should include these steps:

You must seek the advice of your data protection officer (if you have one). You should also consult
with individuals and other stakeholders throughout this process.

The process is designed to be flexible and scalable. You can use or adapt our sample DPIA template,
or create your own. If you want to create your own, you may want to refer to the European
guidelines which set out Criteria for an acceptable DPIA.

Although publishing a DPIA is not a requirement of GDPR, you should actively consider the benefits
of publication. As well as demonstrating compliance, publication can help engender trust and
confidence. We would therefore recommend that you publish your DPIAs, where possible, removing
sensitive details if necessary.
Do we need to consult the ICO?

You don’t need to send every DPIA to the ICO and we expect the percentage sent to us to be small.
But you must consult the ICO if your DPIA identifies a high risk and you cannot take measures to
reduce that risk. You cannot begin the processing until you have consulted us.

If you want your project to proceed effectively then investing time in producing a comprehensive
DPIA may prevent any delays later, if you have to consult with the ICO.

You need to send us a copy of your DPIA.

Once we have the information we need, we will generally respond within eight weeks (although we
can extend this by a further six weeks in complex cases).

We will provide you with a written response advising you whether the risks are acceptable, or
whether you need to take further action. In some cases we may advise you not to carry out the
processing because we consider it would be in breach of the GDPR. In appropriate cases we may
issue a formal warning or take action to ban the processing altogether.

Further Reading

Relevant provisions in the GDPR - See Articles 35 and 36 and Recitals 74-77, 84, 89-92, 94 and 95

External link

In more detail – ICO guidance

We have published more detailed guidance on DPIAs.

In more detail – European Data Protection Board

WP29 produced guidelines on data protection impact assessments, which have been endorsed by
the EDPB.

Other relevant guidelines include:

Guidelines on Data Protection Officers (‘DPOs’) (WP243)

Guidelines on automated individual decision-making and profiling for the purposes of Regulation
2016/679 (WP251)