Privacy Impact Assessment

This question asks whether you've formally analyzed how your product or service might impact user privacy. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is like a safety inspection for data handling - you examine what personal information you collect, how it flows through your systems, what could go wrong, and how you prevent problems. It's about thinking through privacy risks before they become real issues.

PIAs are legally required for high-risk processing under GDPR and expected by enterprise buyers in regulated industries. Companies with documented PIAs close enterprise deals 35% faster and qualify for better cyber insurance rates. They prevent costly privacy mistakes that average $4.45 million per incident. A thorough PIA demonstrates privacy maturity that differentiates you from competitors and builds customer confidence.

The biggest mistake is treating a PIA as a one-time checkbox instead of updating it as your product evolves. Companies also often conduct superficial assessments that miss critical risks, providing false confidence until a breach or audit reveals the gaps.