Advisory & Data Protection
Practical privacy expertise — outsourced DPOs, GDPR assessments, data mapping and training that keep personal data lawful and defensible.
Personal data is now regulated in over 135 countries, many with cross-border implications, and for UK organisations the bar is concrete: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act demand lawful bases, documented processing, respected subject rights and security you can evidence. Get it wrong and the costs go beyond fines — reputational damage, lost deals and regulator attention that lingers. Blackfoot's data protection services turn those obligations into something manageable.
Our practice is built on certified data protection professionals who have delivered privacy programmes across finance, retail, IT services, manufacturing, healthcare and the public sector. The advice is practical by design: what the law requires, what the regulator expects, and the proportionate way to get there for an organisation your size — clear guidance and actionable recommendations rather than legal theory you still have to translate into work.
The services cover the full lifecycle of a privacy programme. A Data Protection Assessment establishes how compliant you actually are and what to fix first. Our Understanding Data Usage service maps how personal data really moves through your departments — often the revelation that reshapes everything else. ROPA delivery turns that knowledge into the Article 30 records the law requires.
For ongoing accountability, our External DPO service gives you a qualified, independent Data Protection Officer without the hire — handling regulator contact, advising on DSARs and breaches, and reporting quarterly to your leadership. And DPO Training, including the PECB Certified Data Protection Officer course, builds the same capability inside your own team.
The services are designed to compound. The data map produced by Understanding Data Usage becomes the foundation of your ROPA; the assessment findings become your DPO's working agenda; training turns the people who must maintain it all into people who can. You can engage any service standalone, but clients who sequence them find each engagement makes the next one shorter and cheaper.
Data protection also doesn't live in isolation: privacy obligations overlap heavily with security frameworks, and GDPR itself can be managed as a framework within our Compliance as a Service subscription on the Clarity portal. Because Blackfoot covers both disciplines, your Article 32 security measures are advised by the same firm that tests and assesses them — one conversation, not two contradicting ones. Whether you need a one-off assessment, an outsourced DPO or a continuously managed programme, the same team covers the whole picture.
Certified data protection professionals with delivery experience across regulated and unregulated sectors — not generalists reading the regulation with you.
Guidance matched to your size and risk, focused on what the ICO actually expects rather than gold-plating everything.
Assessment, data mapping, ROPA, outsourced DPO and training — one practice covering every stage of a privacy programme.
An external DPO avoids the conflicts of interest that internal appointments often create, and gives the regulator a credible contact point.
The same firm covers your GDPR security obligations and your wider cyber programme, so Article 32 isn't answered in a vacuum.
GDPR can run as a framework in Compliance as a Service on Clarity, keeping privacy evidence and recurring tasks continuously maintained.
A Data Protection Assessment or GDPR compliance check establishes how you measure up against UK and EU requirements, with prioritised findings.
Understanding Data Usage maps how personal data is collected, used, shared and stored across departments — the factual foundation for everything else.
We build your ROPA, update privacy notices and policies, and close the gaps the assessment surfaced, in priority order.
An external DPO or trained internal officer takes ongoing ownership — advising on DSARs, breaches and DPIAs, and fronting regulator contact.
Quarterly DPO reporting or a GDPR framework in Clarity keeps documentation current and recurring privacy tasks on schedule.
Straight answers to what prospective clients ask us most.
Data protection assessments, Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) delivery, the Understanding Data Usage data-mapping service, an external DPO service and DPO training including PECB certification. They work standalone or as a joined-up programme.
You must appoint a DPO if you carry out large-scale processing of special category data, data about criminal convictions, or large-scale regular and systematic monitoring of individuals. Even outside those cases, you still have to demonstrate compliance — which is why many organisations appoint one voluntarily or use an external DPO.
With an assessment. A Data Protection Assessment reviews your policies, processes and practices against UK GDPR and gives you a prioritised picture of gaps. It's the cheapest way to find problems — far cheaper than the regulator or a breach finding them for you.
Yes. GDPR can run as a framework within our Compliance as a Service subscription, with controls, evidence and recurring tasks maintained year-round in the Clarity portal — and our external DPO service provides continuous accountability alongside it.
Get a fixed-scope quote, usually the same working day.
