Data Protection Risk Assessment Template

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October 29, 2024

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Navigating the world of risk assessments can sometimes feel like venturing into uncharted territory, even for seasoned compliance professionals. But as we all know, a well-structured risk assessment is foundational to effective compliance and data protection. To help make the process smoother, I’m excited to share a practical risk assessment template that I've created, designed to be flexible and customizable for a variety of compliance needs.

Whether you're reviewing data security risks, operational hazards, or compliance requirements, this template is designed to give you a clear framework to identify, assess, and mitigate risks with confidence. Let’s take the guesswork out of risk management and work toward a more streamlined, proactive approach to protecting what matters most. Here’s to making compliance a little easier – and hopefully a bit more enjoyable – for all of us!

What to consider before you get started

Incorporating the following considerations into your risk assessment framework is essential for tailoring the matrix to align with your organization’s unique context. It is important to acknowledge that different companies have varying risk appetites, which necessitates adjustments to the matrix accordingly.

Thus when using the matrix remember to adjust it

to your organization, its governance structure and its risk appetite
on impact in relation to compromising availability if you have systems that may have a higher impact on the data subjects if you lose the availability.

This includes defining who is authorized to accept the severity of the risk assessment, as illustrated in the visualization below.

We have established the following risk acceptance matrix:

Green (Very Low Risk and Low Risk): This level can be accepted and signed off by the owner of the processing activity or a higher authority.
Yellow (Medium Risk): Acceptance at this level requires the signature of the leading department manager or a higher authority.
Orange (High Risk): This level can only be accepted by two members of the executive team.
Red (Very High Risk): Risks classified as red cannot be accepted.

Furthermore, we have determined that if the residual risk is categorized as orange or red, a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) must be considered.