What is the primary purpose of a Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)?

The primary purpose of a Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA) is to identify whether a system is processing personally identifiable information (PII). This assessment is crucial because it serves as a preliminary step in assessing privacy risks associated with systems and helps organizations determine the level of privacy protections that may be necessary. By identifying PII processing, organizations can ensure that they adhere to relevant privacy laws and regulations, and can take appropriate actions to safeguard sensitive information.

Conducting a PTA helps streamline the privacy compliance process, guiding organizations in managing their data handling practices responsibly. It is a fundamental component of a broader privacy impact assessment process, aimed at protecting individuals’ privacy by recognizing where PII is in use. Thus, its focus is directly aligned with understanding and managing information that relates to identifiable individuals, making option B the most appropriate answer.