Risk Assessments

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An Overview of Risk Assessments

At Oso, we help organizations understand and manage the risks that come with processing personal information. We offer two main types of assessments:

Initial Risk Assessments – A starting point to determine where a client is in their privacy journey, what risks should be prioritized, and how to build a work plan for addressing them.
Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) – In-depth evaluations performed whenever a business process involves personal data, especially when processes are new or updated. PIAs are designed to identify potential risks, rate their likelihood and impact, and guide companies toward appropriate mitigation strategies.

A Privacy Impact Assessment, in plain terms, is a way to ask what could go wrong when personal information is being collected, stored, shared, or processed. It not only highlights risks but also creates a documented record of analysis, which is required by many regulators.

Conducting PIAs is essential because every data process carries risk. Without them, organizations expose themselves to avoidable breaches, compliance failures, or operational inefficiencies. With them, businesses gain confidence that they’ve identified the weak points in their data practices and have a clear plan to strengthen them.

Typical activities that trigger the need for a PIA include:

Installing cookies on a website
Collecting and processing billing or payment information
Creating or maintaining customer or employee databases
Recording customer service calls
Using personal data for marketing or profiling
Sharing data with third parties
Erasing or retaining data beyond the legal retention period

In short, whenever personal information is in play, a risk assessment is the tool that ensures compliance, accountability, and trust.

What’s Included in the Assessment

Our risk assessments are structured to provide clarity and actionable guidance. Every engagement includes:

Evaluation of likelihood, impact, and mitigation strategies – We don’t just identify risks; we measure how likely they are to occur, how damaging they could be, and what steps will reduce them.
Tailored reporting – Clients receive a written assessment along with a mitigation plan. We also recommend follow-up audits to ensure mitigation steps are working effectively.
Regulatory-ready documentation – Our reports can serve as internal tools for governance or as documentation for submission to regulators if required.

Privacy Impact Assessments aren’t a one-time project—they should be performed anytime a new process is launched or an existing process is changed. That makes them a recurring tool for many businesses, though the frequency depends entirely on how often an organization’s data processing activities evolve.

By the end of an engagement, clients walk away with a clear picture of their risks, prioritized action items, and supporting documentation they can use internally or externally.

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Benefits of Working with Oso

When you choose Oso for your Privacy Impact Assessments, you get more than a checklist — you get a partner that understands the legal, operational, and cultural sides of privacy.

Start-to-finish guidance – We don’t just hand you a template. We lead the process, provide practical recommendations, and even train your team to run PIAs on their own in the future.
Actionable results – Our findings are clear, prioritized, and aligned with the realities of your business. We know compliance can be overwhelming, so we break things down into steps that make sense.
Legal expertise – Our team has a strong legal background, which means we can interpret how data privacy laws apply to your exact situation. You don’t get generic advice — you get tailored guidance rooted in regulatory awareness.
Flexibility – If you want us to stop at the assessment, we can. If you’d like us to stick around and help implement the mitigation plan, we’re ready.
Cost-effective solutions – Because we operate lean, our services are often a fraction of what larger firms charge — while still delivering the depth and quality you need.

The result is a process that feels manageable and efficient while ensuring you’re meeting legal obligations and protecting consumer trust.

Customization & Collaboration Process

Every organization has different data flows, systems, and risks. That’s why our process is always collaborative and customized.

Here’s how a typical PIA with Oso unfolds:

Initial Interview – We meet with stakeholders to understand the process in question and gather the context needed.
Tailored Questionnaire – We create a custom questionnaire designed around your process and industry.
Client Input – Your team provides responses, documentation, and any supporting evidence.
Risk Identification – We evaluate the likelihood and impact of potential risks.
Prioritization & Recommendations – We review findings with you and determine which risks need attention first.
Mitigation Plan – We provide a detailed plan for addressing the risks, including practical steps and timelines.
Follow-Up – We check in on implementation progress and can perform audits of the results if desired.

While PIAs do require collaboration at the beginning, we keep the process as efficient and streamlined as possible. Much of the work can be completed at your own pace, and we’re flexible in adapting to your internal tools and workflows.

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Who Risk Assessments Are Best For

Risk assessments are relevant for any organization that processes personal information, but some businesses find them especially critical:

Heavily regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and insurance, where legal and client expectations around privacy are especially strict.
Companies managing large amounts of personal data, whether consumer, client, or employee information.
Organizations preparing for audits, M&A, or due diligence, where outside stakeholders will expect evidence of structured privacy processes.
Businesses adopting new technologies or processes that involve personal data, such as adding AI tools, expanding digital marketing, or launching new platforms.
Startups and growing companies that want to build privacy protections into their processes early rather than waiting until after a problem arises.

Some regulations, such as GDPR and CPRA, make PIAs a legal requirement. For others, they’re a best practice that reduces risk and demonstrates accountability. Either way, risk assessments provide a foundation of trust with regulators, clients, and consumers.

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