Privacy impact assessments (“PIAs”) provide a framework for organisations to review privacy risks and implications associated new products or services while they are in their design stage. PIAs assess not only whether the products or services will comply with relevant privacy laws but also the impact that they will have on individuals’ privacy. In the context of privacy, this latter element is highly significant as, although a particular practice may be legal, it may cause a public backlash if it is deemed to interfere with individuals’ privacy to an unacceptable extent, impacting on a project's feasibility.

The primary benefits of conducting a PIA include:

• increasing public confidence by indicating awareness of privacy issues; and

• providing project managers with detailed information about privacy requirements and risks, enabling informed decisions to be made regarding policy and design issues from the inception of a project, avoiding the need for costly re-evaluation or re-design at an advanced stage in the project in order to comply with privacy laws and public expectations.

Privacy Law Consulting Australia can assist clients to undertake PIAs to ensure that they are fully informed of all relevant privacy issues concerning a new project.