DataShield is a free governance compliance assessment tool that helps small and medium-sized businesses understand their data risks, identify governance gaps, and take practical steps toward compliance. Built by a data governance specialist. Designed for business owners, not IT departments.
Every time a customer gives your business their name, email, phone number, or payment details, you become responsible for protecting that information. Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, and state privacy laws apply to businesses of all sizes.
Large enterprises spend over $100,000 per year on governance tools and dedicated compliance teams. Small businesses have the same obligations but none of the same resources. This creates what experts call the "governance gap."
DataShield was built to close that gap. A free, practical tool that helps you understand where your data governance stands today and what to do about it.
Simple, jargon-free questions about how your business handles data. Takes under 5 minutes. No technical knowledge required.
DataShield evaluates your responses across six governance dimensions and generates a personalised compliance score with a clear rating.
Receive specific, actionable recommendations tailored to your risk profile. Know exactly where to focus your governance efforts.
DataShield evaluates your business across the six areas that matter most for protecting data and achieving compliance.
Do you know what personal data you hold, where it lives, and why you have it?
Who can see your data? Are permissions appropriate and regularly reviewed?
Do you have privacy policies, consent mechanisms, and data subject rights processes?
Is your data encrypted, backed up, and protected against unauthorised access?
Do you know which vendors have access to your data and how they handle it?
Do you have a plan for when things go wrong? Can you detect and respond to incidents?
15 questions. Under 5 minutes. Completely free. No signup required.
"We collect customer orders and delivery details every day but never thought about how we were storing that information. DataShield showed us exactly where our gaps were and gave us practical steps to fix them."
"As a fashion business handling customer measurements, contact details, and payment information, I needed to know if we were doing things right. The assessment was quick, clear, and the recommendations made sense."
"DataShield made me realise we had customer data scattered across spreadsheets, emails, and messaging apps with no proper access controls. We started making changes the same week."
"We handle sensitive application data from users across multiple countries. DataShield helped us identify gaps in our third-party risk management and data retention practices that we had completely overlooked."
"Running a retail store, I always assumed data governance was for big corporations. DataShield showed me that even a small shop collecting customer details needs to think about these things. Simple, practical, and free."
"The assessment took less than five minutes and gave us a clear score with specific recommendations. We now have a much better understanding of our data governance posture and what to prioritise next."
Your feedback helps us improve DataShield and supports our mission to make data governance accessible for all businesses.
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I built DataShield because I saw the same problem everywhere I worked: small businesses collecting sensitive data every day with no practical way to know if they were doing it safely.
The governance tools that exist are built for large corporations with big budgets and dedicated compliance teams. Small businesses have the same legal obligations but none of the same resources. DataShield is my answer to that gap. A free, practical tool that any business owner can use in under five minutes.