Which statement best describes the privacy impact assessment (PIA)?

• A. It evaluates how data processing affects privacy and identifies mitigations to reduce risk.
• B. It ensures legal compliance only for data storage devices.
• C. It replaces the need for a data protection officer.
• D. It focuses solely on marketing data.

Answer: (A)

A privacy impact assessment investigates how a data processing activity could affect individuals’ privacy and identifies safeguards to reduce those risks. It looks at what data is collected, how it’s used, who has access, how it’s stored and shared, and what potential harms could arise. The goal is to ensure the processing is necessary and proportionate and to embed protections—like data minimization, access controls, encryption, and clear retention limits—by design. This approach is not limited to data stored on devices, does not replace a data protection officer, and isn’t confined to marketing data; it applies to any processing activity that could impact privacy, especially higher-risk ones.