In November, Austria’s Data Protection Authority mandated that data processing operations in all cases requires a data protection impact assessment (DPIA).

This regulatory shift aligns with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. Noncompliance carries substantial penalties: fines reaching EUR 10 million or 2% of global annual revenue.

DPIA Application Examples

The directive covers several scenarios:

• Credit rating databases, AML systems, anti-fraud operations, behavioral profiling, and automated financial decision-making
• Surveillance and monitoring technologies, including body cameras
• Emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence and biometric systems (such as multi-factor access controls)
• Data merging and cross-checking from multiple sources