Privacy encompasses the rights and obligations of individuals and organizations with respect to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information. Privacy is a risk management issue for all organizations, and many are looking to CPA firms for privacy solutions. CPAs are adept at performing comprehensive risk assessments for businesses and developing risk management solutions that can give companies competitive marketplace advantages. Privacy is included in these risk assessments, and CPAs use a universal framework of privacy best practices against which the company's privacy policies can be examined. CPAs can provide guidance to the organizations they serve by using the Generally Accepted Privacy Principles (GAPP) to help assess their privacy-related risks as well as to develop sound privacy policies and practices.