DQM said that it decided to provide a free service following the recent string of data security breaches that have caused a major downturn in public confidence over the care with which personal information is held.
At last week's DMA conference Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said that the growing volume of . There have been 401 breaches since November 2007.
DQM interviewed hundreds of organisations about their current procedures for managing and securing personal data.
This information has been organised into a database which sets the benchmark norm against which organisations can measure their current position, strengths and weaknesses.
Public bodies and private companies can access the service by filling in a questionnaire on about their data security practices. The site then compares these answers with market and best practice norms in order to return a benchmark profile.
Adrian Gregory, chief executive of DQM Group, said: "Many improvements to data security standards can be made quite easily. That means organisations who fail to address the issue really are scoring a massive own goal.
"With the introduction of www.datameasures.com, there is no longer an excuse for private and public bodies not to assess where they stand and to start looking to improve where necessary. In any case, it is very likely that new powers will be granted to the Information Commissioner to levy substantial fines for poor data security standards."
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