The Osano Privacy Program Maturity Model  

Without regular assessments of your privacy program’s maturity, it is likely that your program will require more resources and effort to achieve fewer outcomes. For something like data privacy, which is already at risk of being perceived as an organizational blocker, operational efficiency is key.

A maturity model serves as an ideal means of assessing program efficiency since it quantifies compliance activities, which can otherwise be difficult for non-experts to understand.

One recommended application is to attach your privacy program’s maturity score to your organization’s objectives and key results. 

The Osano team drew from multiple sources to develop this privacy program maturity model. One source was other existing models and frameworks—while there is actionable information in other models, they are often geared toward cybersecurity, accountancy and auditing, and other domains, rather than being purely privacy focused. This model was designed for privacy professionals specifically (though non-privacy experts can still benefit from it).

We also interviewed privacy professionals to determine what features they would find most useful in a privacy program maturity model. Lastly, we reviewed a range of privacy literature, regulatory guidance, and commentary to determine the critical elements of a privacy program and how their maturity varies.