The Risk Management module in Secure Privacy's Governance Solution helps your organization continuously identify, prioritize, and mitigate privacy risks across all data processing activities. Using an automated likelihood-impact scoring model, it surfaces your highest-priority risks, supports mitigation planning, and provides visual risk dashboards — enabling compliance teams to maintain a structured, audit-ready privacy risk register aligned with GDPR requirements.
Who Is This For?
Risk managers building and maintaining a privacy risk register across the organization
Compliance officers tracking risk exposure, remediation status, and overall risk posture
IT and security teams monitoring system-specific risks and the effectiveness of technical controls
Accessing Risk Management
From the left sidebar in the Governance Solution, navigate to Compliance > Risks. The module offers two views: List View for managing individual risk records, and Charts for visual risk analysis.
Building Your GDPR Privacy Risk Register
Step 1: Click + Add Risk
Click the + Add Risk button in the top-right corner of the Risk Management view.
Step 2: Define the risk
Complete the risk record with the following fields:
Field |
Description |
Example |
|---|---|---|
Name |
Clear, descriptive title for the risk |
"Non-Compliance with GDPR Article 13 Transparency Requirements" |
Department |
The department where the risk originates or is managed |
Legal, IT, Marketing |
Type |
Classification of the risk by source |
Process, Vendor, System |
Risk Level |
Severity level calculated by the automated scoring model |
High Risk, Medium Risk, Low Risk |
Status |
Current state of the risk |
Open, In Review, Mitigated, Closed |
Risk Factors |
Specific contributing factors that increase the risk likelihood or impact |
"Outdated privacy policy", "Lack of employee training" |
Step 3: Link to related items
Connect the risk to related systems, processing activities, and owners. This creates end-to-end traceability across your compliance program — from the identified risk through to the system or process that generates it and the team member responsible for remediation.
Automated Risk Scoring Model
The platform automatically calculates a risk score based on two inputs:
Likelihood: How probable is it that the risk event will occur?
Impact: How severe would the consequences be for individuals' rights and freedoms or for the organization?
The combined score determines the overall risk level — High, Medium, or Low — and is used to prioritize remediation efforts and flag items that may require DPIA pre-screening under GDPR Article 35.
Risk Visualization and Heat Map
Switch to the Charts view for visual risk analysis across your organization:
Risk Heat Map: A visual distribution of all risks plotted by likelihood and impact — immediately showing where the highest concentrations of risk sit.
Risk by Department: A breakdown of risk exposure across teams and departments — supporting targeted remediation and management reporting.
Risk by Type: Distribution of risks across Process, Vendor, and System categories — identifying which risk sources require the most attention.
Trend Analysis: A view of how your overall risk posture is changing over time — demonstrating risk reduction progress to leadership and regulators.
AI-Powered Risk Analysis
Click the AI Analysis button to receive intelligent, data-driven suggestions about your risk register:
Risks that may need immediate attention based on score and status
Patterns and correlations across your risk register that may not be immediately visible
Recommended mitigation strategies based on industry best practices
Gaps in your current risk coverage that may leave compliance areas unmonitored
Mitigation Planning and Tracking
Document mitigation activities
For each identified risk, document the specific mitigation measures planned or already implemented — providing a written record of your organization's response to each privacy risk.
Assign mitigation tasks to team members
Link mitigation actions to named team members in the Task Management module, ensuring clear accountability for who is responsible for implementing each control.
Set deadlines and track progress
Assign target completion dates for each mitigation activity and monitor progress in real time — with overdue items flagged automatically in the risk register.
Monitor risk level changes as mitigations are implemented
As mitigation measures are completed, the risk score updates to reflect the reduced likelihood or impact — providing a live view of how your remediation efforts are improving your overall risk posture.
Troubleshooting
Risk score not updating
Ensure that both the Likelihood and Impact values have been set for the risk. The scoring model requires both inputs to calculate the overall risk level — leaving either field blank will prevent the score from generating.
Cannot link risk to a process
Verify that the process exists in the Process Register and has been saved. The Risk Management module can only link to process records that have been fully created in the Process Register. If the process is missing, create it there first.
Next Steps
Link high-risk items to Impact Assessments to determine whether a DPIA is required under GDPR Article 35
Create mitigation tasks directly in Task Management with assigned owners and deadlines
Schedule periodic risk reviews using the Compliance Calendar to keep your risk register current
Monitor risk trends and distribution through Reporting & Analytics for board and regulatory reporting
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Risk Management module support GDPR DPIA pre-screening?
Risk records with High risk scores — particularly those linked to special category data, large-scale processing, or systematic monitoring — are strong indicators that a DPIA may be required under GDPR Article 35. Your DPO can use the risk register alongside the system inventory and process records to conduct a structured DPIA pre-screening assessment and document the reasoning.
Can risks be automatically generated from other modules?
Yes. Risks can be triggered automatically through the Workflow & Automation module — for example, when a new system is added with a High impact rating, or when a process record identifies special category data without a documented Article 9(2) condition. This reduces manual risk identification effort and ensures emerging risks are captured promptly.
How should the risk register be maintained for regulatory audit purposes?
The risk register should be reviewed and updated regularly — at minimum quarterly, and whenever processing activities or systems change significantly. All risk records, status changes, and mitigation updates are logged with timestamps in the audit trail, providing a complete, chronological record of your organization's privacy risk management activity for supervisory authority review.