Rise with SAP – Safe and CompliantDemystify differences between PIA and DPIA : Use these terms confidently
Ever wondered what is the difference between a Privacy impact assessment (PIA) and a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)? It is our understanding that a DPIA is a regulatory requirement under the GDPR and triggered when the conditions under Art. 35 are met. However, since other Data privacy laws have been in existence since ages, the term PIA is often misunderstood.
- Novel or large scale activities are not themselves a threshold test, they’re part of factors in the decision about risk or part of the test factors in GDPR.
- DPIA is required only when there is high risk to data subject’s rights and freedoms taking into account ‘Privacy harm dimensions’ and ‘Privacy interference’.
- DPIA are a subset of PIAs and that PIAs (which came first) are about data protection not Privacy
- PIAs were mandated by Canada DPAs and were then championed by in the UK DPA’s guidance. DPIAs arrived in law in GDPR much later.
Technically, PIA is any Privacy Impact Assessment (including DPIAs) for the purposes of complying with your data protection obligations (or voluntarily) that looks at the impact on the individual from your processing their personal data.
There is also Privacy threshold analysis (PTA) which paves way for early warning signal for privacy risks, mitigations and triggers further assessments like PIA with DPIA.PTA is only meant for initial information and context gathering and not to be confused with other assessments.
*You are most welcome to contact our team who can set up PIA and DPIA processes under SAP GRC technology platforms.