FRIA

A Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) is a structured evaluation process that identifies, analyzes, and documents the potential impacts of an AI system on fundamental rights protected under EU law, including the right to non-discrimination, privacy, dignity, and access to essential services. The FRIA goes beyond technical risk assessment to examine how AI deployment may affect individuals and groups in society.

Article 27 of the EU AI Act mandates that deployers of high-risk AI systems in certain contexts must conduct a FRIA before putting the system into use. This requirement applies specifically to public sector bodies and private entities providing essential services such as healthcare, education, or financial services. The FRIA obligation recognizes that high-risk AI systems can have profound effects on individuals' fundamental rights, and that these impacts must be systematically assessed and mitigated before deployment. The FRIA requirement represents a significant expansion beyond traditional data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) required under GDPR. While a DPIA focuses primarily on personal data processing and privacy risks, a FRIA examines broader societal impacts including potential discrimination, effects on human dignity, and impacts on access to services. Organizations subject to both requirements should coordinate these assessments while recognizing their distinct scopes.

Conducting a compliant FRIA requires a systematic approach. Organizations must first identify which fundamental rights may be affected by the AI system, considering both direct impacts on decision subjects and indirect effects on broader populations. The assessment should document specific risks, their likelihood and severity, and the mitigation measures implemented to address them. Key elements of a FRIA include: identification of affected fundamental rights (such as non-discrimination, privacy, freedom of expression), analysis of how the AI system's design and deployment may impact these rights, evaluation of safeguards and mitigation measures, and documentation of residual risks that stakeholders must accept. Organizations should also establish processes for ongoing review as the system operates and circumstances change.

The FRIA must be completed before the high-risk AI system is deployed and should be updated when significant changes occur.