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Digital Project and Data Protection Readiness Assessment
Donors are financing digital ID, social registries, payment systems and e-services at scale, and they expect the systems to be lawful, secure and inclusive. This assessment checks a digital project against GDPR-style data protection principles that most national laws now follow, the UN Universal DPI Safeguards Framework (September 2024), the World Bank Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development and basic cybersecurity practice. It complements our Data Governance Maturity Assessment, which looks at the whole organisation. This is a real readiness tool: each question is drawn from the current official texts listed under "Based on", and Risalat's guideline monitor re-checks those sources every two weeks so the questions follow new editions.
- Assessment
- 12 min
- Free
- Saved in your browser
Who it is for
- Teams running digital ID, social registry, e-services or payment projects
- Ministries of ICT, digital transformation and social protection
- Data protection officers and legal advisers
- Vendors and system integrators on donor-funded digital contracts
- Development partners reviewing digital projects
What you get
- A readiness score across six areas a lender or regulator will review
- The legal and safeguard gaps in your system design
- Practical steps for privacy by design, security and inclusion
- Links to the official frameworks
- Programmes that build the missing skills
Programmes that build these skills
Upcoming Risalat programmes matched to the areas this tool measures. Your results show which ones fit your weakest areas.
Questions
Does GDPR apply to my project outside Europe?
Usually not directly, unless you offer services to people in the EU or monitor them. But many national laws follow the same principles, and donors often expect equivalent protection.
What is digital public infrastructure (DPI)?
Shared digital systems such as digital ID, payments and data exchange that governments and others use to deliver services at scale.
How is this different from the Data Governance Maturity Assessment?
That tool looks at the whole organisation's data governance. This one focuses on a specific digital system or project and the safeguards a lender or regulator will review.
When should a DPIA be done?
Before the design is final and before any personal data is collected, and again when the system changes significantly.
Based on
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) The model for many national data protection laws.
- UN Universal DPI Safeguards Framework UNDP and the UN Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, released 24 September 2024.
- Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development World Bank ID4D and endorsing organisations.
- World Bank Environmental and Social Standards Inclusion, stakeholder engagement and grievance requirements apply to digital projects too.
This is a self-assessment and training tool, not legal advice or a security audit. Always follow your national data protection and cybersecurity laws and the requirements in your financing agreement.