A DPIA is legally required before processing that is likely to result in a high risk to individuals.
New technologies, large-scale monitoring, profiling and automated decisions, and special category data at scale all point towards one. Done properly it is genuinely useful, because it forces the awkward questions before launch rather than after a complaint.
Done as a box-ticking exercise it is worse than nothing, because it documents that you identified the risks and proceeded anyway.
A data protection impact assessment is a structured assessment of a proposed processing activity.
Typical triggers include:
- new software, platforms or AI tools that process personal data;
- monitoring, tracking or CCTV and ANPR systems;
- profiling, scoring or automated decision-making;
- processing children’s data or special category data; and
- large-scale data sharing with another organisation.
We tell you first whether one is actually required, because sometimes a lighter screening record is enough.
Where it is required, we run the assessment with you, describing the processing accurately, testing necessity and proportionality, identifying risks to the people whose data it is, and designing mitigations that work with how your business actually operates.
Our Approach
Legal advice that makes running and growing your business easier.
We start with your business, not the law.
Before we open a document, we want to understand what you are trying to do commercially. The legal answer is only useful if it serves that.
We get to the point.
You get a clear view of what matters and what does not, in plain English, with the real risks separated from the noise.
We give you an answer.
Not a menu of options and a shrug. We tell you what we would do, why, and where there is a genuine judgment call for you to make.
We stay available.
Whether you work with us on a single project or on a subscription, we are here for the follow-up question. We would always rather you asked.
Ways of working together
Fixed-fee projects
A single, defined piece of work for an agreed fixed fee, communicated before we engage. Reviewing a contract, drafting your terms, handling a negotiation.
No surprises and no hidden fees
Flagship Subscription
Ares Access
Ongoing support on a fixed monthly subscription, for businesses that need commercial legal input regularly rather than as the occasional one-off.
- Dedicated lawyer
- Fixed monthly fees
- Commercial advice on demand
From £500 plus VAT per month
Data Protection Health Check
No surprises and no hidden fees
Any questions?
Phone: 02382 420035
