What is a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)?
A Data Protection Impact Assessment is a structured review of a processing activity that identifies the rights and risks involved for Data Principals and the measures taken to manage them. Under the DPDP Act it is one of the additional obligations attaching to Significant Data Fiduciaries, alongside appointing a Data Protection Officer and an independent data auditor.
A DPIA is a decision record, not a form. Its value is that it names who assessed the risk, what they concluded and what mitigation was accepted — which is exactly what an auditor or the Data Protection Board will ask about later.
Software can gather the evidence and structure the assessment; it cannot make the judgement. Treat any product implying otherwise as a document generator.
General information about the DPDP Act, not legal advice. Obligations depend on your circumstances.
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Dinkar Singh — Dinkar covers privacy engineering at ProtectComply — discovery, consent propagation and the evidence trail behind them.
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