What is a data protection impact assessment (DPIA)?

A data protection impact assessment, often called a DPIA, is a structured review of what a new processing of personal data could mean for the people it affects: what is being processed, why, what the risks are, and what safeguards are in place. GDPR requires one when the processing is likely to involve high risk, and introducing AI that handles personal data often falls into that category, especially in the public sector.

It sounds worse than it is. A good DPIA for an AI tool is a few pages that honestly answer concrete questions: where the data is processed, who the processor is, what happens to what’s entered, how long it’s stored, and what control you have. The hardest part is usually getting the answers from the provider, not writing the document.

That’s why EuroWork has already done half the work for you. On the Trust page, there’s a ready-made DPIA template where all the service details are already filled in (Frankfurt operations, sub-processors, sensitivity checks, deletion policies), so your data protection officer only needs to add your organisation’s purposes and assessment. What usually takes weeks of emailing takes an afternoon.