# Privacy Ref, Inc. - **Type:** Advisory firm - **Website:** https://privacyref.com/ - **Assessed by:** The Assurance Desk (Add-Venture Advisory Ltd) A small Florida privacy consultancy founded by Bob Siegel, offering US privacy advice, assessments, IAPP training and a retainer-based AI governance service. ## Privacy Ref scores Scored 1 to 5 on six criteria. There is no overall score. ### 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 Every line carries the page it was read on and the date it was checked. - Privacy Ref, Inc. is registered as an active Florida domestic for-profit corporation. - Source: https://bisprofiles.com/fl/privacy-ref-p15000053015 - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Privacy Ref was founded by Bob Siegel after his career leading privacy at Staples, Inc. - Source: https://privacyref.com/our-story/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Founder Bob Siegel holds IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy status and five CIPP-family designations. - Source: https://privacyref.com/bob-siegel/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Privacy Ref's first engagement was subcontracted privacy-audit support work for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. - Source: https://privacyref.com/our-story/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Privacy Ref offers a named, retainer-based Fractional AI Governance service. - Source: https://privacyref.com/fractional-ai-governance/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Privacy Ref is a small boutique consultancy by headcount. - Source: https://www.linkedin.com/company/privacy-ref - Checked: 2026-09-20 ## What this provider publishes Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages. - Price: Not published - Indemnity cover: Not published - Credentials: Published - Independent accreditation: Not published - Client results: Not published - How it uses AI: Not published ## 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 Each one carries the factual basis it rests on. - No professional liability (errors & omissions) insurance disclosure appears on the public site or in public search results. - Basis: 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. - Basis: 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. - Basis: privacyref.com/our-story/ names only the ASR Analytics/CFPB subcontract; no further client names appear on the public site. ## Where this firm appears - [Do you need a data protection officer?](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/first-appointment) - [Your sector adds its own rules to UK data protection law](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/sector-regulated) - [Compare providers](https://theassurancedesk.com/compare) --- **Scope.** The Assurance Desk covers data protection, AI governance and cyber security in the United Kingdom and the United States. It scores providers in both: UK-facing firms, and firms based in the United States. Every provider scored so far was selected for data-protection, AI-governance or security-assurance work. Where a page describes law, it names the country that law applies in. **Who publishes this.** The Assurance Desk is published by Add-Venture Advisory Ltd, company number 11854524, registered in England and Wales. The same owner runs Avouch, a marketing agency that sells AI visibility services to firms of the kind this site covers. That is a conflict of interest, and it is disclosed here. **Corrections.** If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.