Home › The DPIA screening tool
Assessing an AI tool before you buy it shouldn’t need a law degree. I’ve built this screening tool to ask the right questions in plain English, then tell you whether your answers are detailed enough to send to your Data Protection Officer for sign-off.
What it does
The AI & Digital Tool DPIA Screening Tool walks you, section by section, through everything a Data Protection Impact Assessment needs to cover:
- Purpose and description, including new AI features inside tools you already use.
- Whose personal information the tool touches, and what can be typed, pasted or uploaded into it.
- Scale and volume of data.
- Roles (controller vs processor), the contract, sub-processors and international transfers.
- Lawful basis and retention.
- Automated decisions, biometrics and emotion inference.
- What the supplier does with the data: AI training, product development, analytics and logs.
Each section has an i button that explains what it’s for and what a good answer looks like. When you’ve finished, Check readiness tells you whether it’s ready for your DPO. It runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere, and it prints cleanly for your records.
It reflects the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the DfE generative AI product safety standards (January 2026), DfE guidance on procuring edtech, the ICO Children’s Code and edtech guidance, and the ICO’s Edtech examined audit findings. It is a template to support a context-specific assessment; it is not legal advice and does not replace your DPO’s sign-off.
He works with you to shape sessions as you need and gives you confidence. I have recommended you already.
Jo Fletcher-Saxon · Assistant Principal, Ashton Sixth Form College
Get your copy
Tell me who you are and where you work, and the download unlocks. It’s free, and shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
One important step: the link on the confirmation screen opens your download page, and the file saves straight to your device. Open the saved file in any browser. That’s how it runs. It needs no internet connection, and nothing you type into it is sent anywhere.
How it works
- Complete the short sign-up form above.
- When you submit it, the confirmation screen links to your download page, and the file saves straight to your device.
- Open the saved file in any browser on your own device. That’s how the tool runs. No internet connection needed.
- Complete a screening for any tool you’re considering.
- Print or save the finished assessment, and send it to your DPO for approval.
I only hold your details as set out in the privacy notice.
Guidance it speaks to