Overview
Info
The NIST Privacy Framework: A Tool for Improving Privacy through Enterprise Risk Management (Version 1.0) is a voluntary framework published by NIST to help organizations manage privacy risks and support privacy-by-design practices.
It supports ethical data use, transparency, and adaptable privacy protections across diverse sectors and technologies, including AI and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Published: January 16, 2020
DOI: NIST.CSWP.01162020
Purpose and Goals
- Help organizations build trust by minimizing adverse privacy outcomes
- Enable future-proof compliance in dynamic regulatory and technological landscapes
- Foster cross-sector communication about privacy practices
- Support enterprise risk management and privacy engineering principles
Framework Components
Note
Like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the Privacy Framework consists of three parts:
1. Core
- Organizes key privacy protection activities and desired outcomes
- Enables structured discussion across executive, operational, and technical levels
2. Profiles
- Tailored selections of Core outcomes
- Reflect the organization’s privacy values, mission, and risk posture
3. Implementation Tiers
- Describe the organization’s maturity in managing privacy risk
- Help evaluate readiness and prioritize improvements
Key Concepts
- Privacy Risk Management: A process for identifying, assessing, and responding to risks to individuals’ privacy resulting from data processing
- Risk- and Outcome-Based Approach: Emphasizes flexibility and adaptability over one-size-fits-all controls
- System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) integration: Embeds privacy engineering throughout product and service development
- Informative References: Supports mapping to laws, standards, and best practices
Benefits
Tip
The Privacy Framework helps organizations balance data-driven innovation with individual privacy protections, making it ideal for tech-forward environments and cross-functional teams.
- Strengthens internal governance and accountability
- Bridges gaps between technical, legal, and executive stakeholders
- Aligns with existing frameworks like NIST CSF for joint use
Summary
The NIST Privacy Framework offers a flexible, modular, and scalable approach to managing privacy risks across varied systems and sectors. It promotes a privacy-by-design philosophy rooted in enterprise risk principles and technological agility.