As social assessments become increasingly data-driven, practitioners must address privacy and data governance risks. This presentation explores practical approaches for integrating data protection.
Social impact assessment (SIA) practitioners routinely collect and process large volumes of personal information through stakeholder engagement, household surveys, socio-economic baseline studies, livelihood restoration planning, grievance mechanisms and vulnerable group assessments. While significant attention is given to ethical engagement, informed consent and safeguarding, the management of personal data itself often receives limited consideration within impact assessment practice.As social assessments become increasingly data-driven and digitalised, practitioners face growing responsibilities relating to the collection, storage, sharing and retention of personal information. Inadequate data governance can expose project-affected people to privacy risks, undermine trust in engagement processes and create legal, reputational and ethical challenges for proponents and consultants alike.
Drawing on practical experience from international social impact assessments and lender-aligned environmental and social due diligence projects, this presentation explores the intersection between data protection and impact assessment. It examines common data collection activities undertaken during social assessment, highlights emerging privacy risks and considers how principles such as data minimisation, purpose limitation, informed consent and secure data management can be more effectively integrated into SIA methodologies. The paper argues that data protection should not be viewed solely as a legal compliance issue but as a core component of responsible impact assessment practice.
Isabella Krabbe is a social impact assessment practitioner specialising in stakeholder engagement, environmental and social due diligence, and lender-aligned projects across infratructure sectors.