Data Protection Officer as a Service

Ensuring ongoing GDPR compliance, data governance, and regulatory readiness without the cost of a full-time hire

these businesses trust in benchmarked to stay secure, compliant, and in control

€1.6 Billion

Total GDPR fines issued in 2024 — a 14% increase from 2023.

88%

88% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach in the past two years, with HIPAA penalties reaching $1.9M+ per case in some instances.

27%

Of organizations required to appoint a Data Protection Officer under GDPR, HIPAA Privacy Rule, or equivalent regulations do not have one formally designated.

The Challenge

GDPR and similar global privacy regulations place strict obligations on organizations that process personal data — especially when handling health data, financial information, or other special categories of personal data.

Non-compliance can lead to:

  • Fines of up to €20M or 4% of global turnover

  • Damaged customer trust and reputational harm

  • Operational disruption during regulator investigations

Many organizations either:

  • Have no formal DPO in place (a legal requirement in many cases)

  • Assign the role to an unqualified internal staff member (risking conflict of interest)

  • Lack the processes, reporting, and audit readiness to prove compliance

Our Solution

Our DPO as a Service provides an independent, expert-led approach to compliance, with ongoing support for both day-to-day governance and strategic risk management.

Core DPO Responsibilities

  • Awareness & Training – Inform staff and leadership of data protection rights, obligations, and responsibilities.

  • Policy Compliance – Ensure GDPR and relevant standards are reflected in policies, contracts, and processes.

  • Advisory Role – Provide ongoing interpretation and application guidance for data protection rules.

  • Monitoring & Auditing – Conduct regular audits of processing activities to identify and address risks.

  • Record-Keeping – Maintain processing activity records, including lawful bases and retention schedules.

  • Authority Liaison – Serve as the single point of contact for Data Protection Authorities (DPAs).

Done for you service

Data Privacy Compliance Committee

We can chair your Data Privacy Compliance Committee, meeting monthly to:

  • Review compliance activities and KPIs

  • Evaluate and update policies and standards

  • Identify and manage risk exposures

  • Recommend improvements for regulatory alignment

Incident & Breach Management

We maintain a GDPR Data Breach Log tracking:

  • Date, department, and type of breach

  • Personal data categories affected

  • Whether regulators/data subjects were notified

  • Remediation actions taken

Our solution

The results

Compliance & IT Costing Review

  • Gap analysis for applicable regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001)

  • Identification of costing gaps of infrastructure, libraries, licences

Business Impact Reporting

  • Quantified risk scoring

  • Estimated remediation costs

  • Go/No-Go recommendations with deal valuation context

DPO as a service for RMI

With our DPO as a Service, RMI is able to:

  • Maintain continuous GDPR compliance without hiring a full-time officer

  • Identify and address risks early through regular audits and committee oversight

  • Stay audit-ready year-round with complete documentation and breach logs

  • Respond confidently to regulator inquiries with a dedicated, experienced point of contact

  • Reduce compliance costs while increasing maturity and governance

Proven compliance expertise

GDPR, NIS 2, ISO 27001, and sector-specific frameworks

Conflict-free independence

DPO role is separate from other operational functions

Scalable service model

from baseline compliance to full program management

Cost optimized

Fractional engagement, but wholesome DPO solution

FAQ

Frequently questions
We need more than GDPR. How about HIPAA or other frameworks?

Our DPOaaS offering covers multi-regulatory compliance — not just GDPR.

We help organizations meet their obligations under:

  • GDPR – EU data protection and privacy for personal data

  • HIPAA – U.S. healthcare privacy and security rules

  • CCPA/CPRA – California Consumer Privacy Act and amendments

  • NIS 2 – EU network and information security directive

  • ISO 27701 – Privacy information management standard

  • PCI-DSS – Payment card data security standard

Why not internal hire, isn't this better?

With Benchmarked as your outsourced DPO, you get:

  • Ongoing compliance oversight for all applicable frameworks

  • Centralized breach reporting and regulator liaison across jurisdictions

  • Risk-based policy development and enforcement

  • Training programs for staff on GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA

  • Integration of cybersecurity and data privacy for holistic protection

We’re not in Europe — GDPR doesn’t apply to us

GDPR applies to any organization that processes the personal data of EU residents — even if you’re based elsewhere. And beyond GDPR, you may be subject to HIPAA, CCPA, NIS 2, or industry-specific rules that have equally strict requirements.

We already have an IT manager — they can handle privacy.

IT managers protect infrastructure. A DPO is a regulatory role focused on privacy compliance, legal obligations, and liaison with authorities. Many regulations require the DPO to be independent from operational IT to avoid conflicts of interest.

We’re too small to need a DPO

Size doesn’t exempt you. If you handle health data, process large-scale personal data, or monitor individuals (e.g., tracking website/app users), many laws require a DPO — regardless of company size. Regulators have fined startups and SMEs for non-compliance.

We’ll deal with it if we get audited

That’s like buying fire insurance during a fire. Regulators expect proactive, documented compliance programs. If you can’t prove you had one in place before an investigation, fines are far more likely.

We can’t afford another monthly service

Fines for non-compliance can reach €20M under GDPR or $1.9M+ under HIPAA, plus legal costs and reputational damage. DPOaaS is a fraction of that cost — and also reduces operational risk, which can lower your insurance premiums.

We haven’t had a breach, so we must be fine

Many breaches go undetected for months. Without active monitoring, logging, and reporting, you may already be out of compliance and not know it — until it’s too late to avoid fines.

We use a compliant vendor, so we’re covered

Even if your cloud provider, payment processor, or EHR vendor is compliant, you’re still responsible for how you use those systems, what data you collect, and who you share it with. Vendor compliance doesn’t transfer liability.

Why choose us

Multi-Jurisdiction Expertise

We cover more than just GDPR — our DPOaaS supports compliance with HIPAA, CCPA/CPRA, NIS 2, ISO 27701, and PCI-DSS so you’re protected across all markets you operate in.

Cost efficient

from baseline compliance to full program management

Done-for-you

From policy creation to staff training, risk audits, and regulator liaison, we manage the entire data protection lifecycle — not just reporting.

Case studies.
Hear what others have say.

4.9

All chances are you'll impressed too.

5.0

Many thanks Mat. Really appreciate your team's hard work over the last few months. This has not been an easy task.

Dr. S.Iyabo Tinubu-Karch
CEO Sidra Medicine

4.5

RMI being ISO 27001 and 14001 certified. These certifications are a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaborative efforts of everyone.

Claire Todd
QHSE Manager, RMI

4.3

Thank you for your outsdanding work without any setbacks.

Devid Palcic
CEO Robotina

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499 eur/month

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What you get:
Dedicated, independent DPO – Meets GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, and NIS 2 requirements
Ongoing compliance monitoring – Policies, processes, and audits kept up to date
Regulator liaison – We act as your official point of contact for data protection authorities
Risk & breach management – Incident logging, 72-hour notification compliance, and remediation guidance
Staff awareness training – Role-specific modules to reduce insider risk and human error
Multi-framework support – GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27701, and more
Why It Works
Fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time DPO
Global coverage — protect your data across jurisdictions and regulations
Peace of mind — audit-ready at all times
No lock-in. Fixed fee. Zero risk.