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The Assurance Desk

Privacy Ref, Inc. review

Advisory firm

A small Florida privacy consultancy founded by Bob Siegel, offering US privacy advice, assessments, IAPP training and a retainer-based AI governance service.

Relevant if you want a small US firm for privacy or AI governance work, not a large one

Price Not published
Indemnity cover Not published
How it uses AI Not published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Privacy Ref scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 2/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5
What it publishes about fees 2/5
Knowledge of your sector 3/5
Independence from what it sells 4/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5

What Privacy Ref offers, and what it publishes

This is a small firm built around its founder. Bob Siegel, who led privacy at Staples, Inc., is an IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy and holds CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPP/C, CIPP/G, CIPM and CIPT. Its retainer-based AI governance service and AI assessments are aimed at US rules including CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA and state AI laws.

Privacy Ref does not publish a price. Its site says only that its services cost 'a fraction' of a full-time hire. It does not publish professional liability insurance, how it uses AI itself, or where client data is processed or stored.

Privacy Ref names one client engagement: its first job, privacy audit support as a subcontractor to ASR Analytics on an audit of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It lists healthcare, financial services, government, small businesses and law firms as sectors, with no case studies. It sells consulting, assessments and training. We found no software product or reseller deal.

Strengths

  • Founder Bob Siegel is an IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy holding five CIPP designations (US, E, C, G) plus CIPM and CIPT -- an unusually deep individual credential base for a two-to-ten-person firm.
  • Long-standing IAPP Official Training Partner status, with the founder acting as an IAPP curriculum subject-matter expert for 12+ years and having trained over 12,000 privacy professionals.
  • Named, dedicated service lines for AI governance (Fractional AI Governance, AI Assessments) rather than a generic privacy-only offering, positioned for the CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA and state AI law landscape.
  • Independent boutique advisory model with no privacy-tech software product of its own, reducing the software-funnel conflict-of-interest risk seen in some assessment-plus-tooling vendors.

Things to check

  • No professional liability (errors & omissions) insurance disclosure appears on the public site or in public search results.
  • No published fee schedule, hourly rate or retainer range; pricing is described only in general cost-effectiveness terms.
  • Only one specific, named client engagement (the CFPB audit subcontract) is documented; no other named clients or sector-specific outcome case studies are published.

Common questions

Does Privacy Ref publish its fees?

No. It publishes no fee schedule, hourly rate or retainer range. Its site says only that its services cost a fraction of a full-time hire.

What AI governance services does Privacy Ref offer?

It offers a retainer-based Fractional AI Governance service and a separate AI Assessments service, aimed at US rules including CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA and state AI laws.

Has Privacy Ref handled a breach or a regulator investigation?

Not that it publishes. Its only published work involving a regulator is privacy audit support on an audit of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as a subcontractor to ASR Analytics. It publishes no breach-response or enforcement-defence work.

Does Privacy Ref disclose professional liability insurance?

No. We found no professional liability or errors and omissions insurance disclosure on its site or in public search results.

Evidence for each Privacy Ref score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • No professional liability (errors & omissions) insurance disclosure appears on the public site or in public search results. (No PI/E&O insurance page, FAQ or statement found on privacyref.com or via web search as of 2026-09-20.)
  • No published fee schedule, hourly rate or retainer range; pricing is described only in general cost-effectiveness terms. (privacyref.com/consulting-services/ states services cost 'a fraction' of a full-time hire but lists no rates.)
  • Only one specific, named client engagement (the CFPB audit subcontract) is documented; no other named clients or sector-specific outcome case studies are published. (privacyref.com/our-story/ names only the ASR Analytics/CFPB subcontract; no further client names appear on the public site.)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 2/5 Only documented history is subcontracted audit-support work for CFPB's own internal review, not a breach-response or enforcement-defence engagement; no other track record is published.
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5 Founder holds IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy status plus CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPP/C, CIPP/G, CIPM and CIPT designations, and was a 12-year IAPP curriculum subject-matter expert.
What it publishes about fees 2/5 No hourly rate, retainer range or project fee is published; the site states only that services cost 'a fraction' of a full-time hire.
Knowledge of your sector 3/5 Site names healthcare, financial services, government, SMBs and law firms as served sectors and offers dedicated DPO and assessment services, but publishes no sector-specific case studies beyond the CFPB subcontract.
Independence from what it sells 4/5 Privacy Ref sells consulting, assessment and training services only; no privacy-tech software product or reseller relationship was found in public sources.
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5 No professional liability or errors-and-omissions insurance, engagement-limitation language, or work guarantee is disclosed on the public site.

Sources for Privacy Ref

  • Privacy Ref, Inc. is registered as an active Florida domestic for-profit corporation. (Active; document #P15000053015; incorporated 17 June 2015; registered agent Robert J Siegel) (bisprofiles.com, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Privacy Ref was founded by Bob Siegel after his career leading privacy at Staples, Inc. (Founded 2012) (privacyref.com, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Founder Bob Siegel holds IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy status and five CIPP-family designations. (FIP; CIPM; CIPT; CIPP/US; CIPP/E; CIPP/C; CIPP/G) (privacyref.com, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Privacy Ref's first engagement was subcontracted privacy-audit support work for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Subcontractor to ASR Analytics on ASR's Independent Performance Audit of CFPB Operations and Budget) (privacyref.com, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Privacy Ref offers a named, retainer-based Fractional AI Governance service. (Fractional AI Governance, retainer-based resourcing) (privacyref.com, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Privacy Ref is a small boutique consultancy by headcount. (2-10 employees; HQ Boynton Beach, FL) (linkedin.com, checked 20 September 2026)

IAPP Official Training Partner IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP), founder Bob Siegel CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPP/C, CIPP/G, CIPM, CIPT, founder Bob Siegel

First DPO or AI policyRegulated sectors

Where this firm appears

If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.

This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.