GDPR compliance checklist - GDPR.eu

Are you ready for the GDPR? Our GDPR checklist can help you secure your organization, protect your customers’ data, and avoid costly fines for non-compliance.
To understand the GDPR checklist, it is also useful to know some of the terminology and the basic structure of the law. You can find this information on our What is GDPR? page. Please keep in mind that nothing on this page constitutes legal advice. We recommend you speak with an attorney specialized in GDPR compliance who can apply the law to your specific circumstances.
Organizations that have at least 250 employees or conduct higher-risk data processing are required to keep an up-to-date and detailed list of their processing activities and be prepared to show that list to regulators upon request. The best way to demonstrate GDPR compliance is using a data protection impact assessment Organizations with fewer than 250 employees should also conduct an assessment because it will make complying with the GDPR's other requirements easier. In your list, you should include: the purposes of the processing, what kind of data you process, who has access to it in your organization, any third parties (and where they are located) that have access, what you're doing to protect the data (e.g. encryption), and when you plan to erase it (if possible).
Processing of data is illegal under the GDPR unless you can justify it according to one of six conditions listed in Article 6. There are other provisions related to children and special categories of personal data in Articles 7-11. Review these provisions, choose a lawful basis for processing, and document your rationale. Note that if you choose "consent" as your lawful basis, there are extra obligations, including giving data subjects the ongoing opportunity to revoke consent. If "legitimate interests" is your lawful basis, you must be able to demonstrate you have conducted a privacy impact assessment.
You need to tell people that you're collecting their data and why (Article 12). You should explain how the data is processed, who has access to it, and how you're keeping it safe. This information should be included in your privacy policy and provided to data subjects at the time you collect their data. It must be presented "in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language, in particular for any information addressed specifically to a child."
You must follow the principles of "data protection by design and by default," including implementing "appropriate technical and organizational measures" to protect data. In other words, data protection is something you now have to consider whenever you do anything with other people's personal data. You also need to make sure any processing of personal data adheres to the data protection principles outlined in Article 5. Technical measures include encryption, and organizational measures are things like limiting the amount of personal data you collect or deleting data you no longer need. The point is that it needs to be something you and your employees are always aware of.
Most of the productivity tools used by businesses are now available with end-to-end encryption built in, including email, messaging, notes, and cloud storage. The GDPR requires organizations to use encryption or pseudeonymization whenever feasible.
Even if your technical security is strong, operational security can still be a weak link. Create a security policy that ensures your team members are knowledgeable about data security. It should include guidance about email security, passwords, two-factor authentication, device encryption, and VPNs. Employees who have access to personal data and non-technical employees should receive extra training in the requirements of the GDPR.
A data protection impact assessment (aka privacy impact assessment) is a way to help you understand how your product or service could jeopardize your customers' data, as well as how to minimize those risks. The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has a data protection impact assessment checklist on its website. The GDPR requires organizations to carry out this kind of analysis whenever they plan to use people's data in such a way that it's "likely to result in a high risk to [their] rights and freedoms." The ICO recommends just doing it anytime you're about to process personal data.
If there's a data breach and personal data is exposed, you are required to notify the supervisory authority in your jurisdiction within 72 hours. A list of many of the EU member states supervisory authorities can be found here. The GDPR does not specify whom you should notify if you are not an EU-based organization. For those in English-speaking non-EU countries, you may find it easiest to notify the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland. You are also required to quickly communicate data breaches to your data subjects unless the breach is unlikely to put them at risk (for instance, if the stolen data is encrypted).
Another part of "data protection by design and by default" is making sure someone in your organization is accountable for GDPR compliance. This person should be empowered to evaluate data protection policies and the implementation of those policies.
This includes any third-party services that handle the personal data of your data subjects, including analytics software, email services, cloud servers, etc. The vast majority of services have a standard data processing agreement available on their websites for you to review. They spell out the rights and obligations of each party for GDPR compliance. You should only use third parties that are reliable and can make sufficient data protection guarantees.
If you process data relating to people in one particular member state, you need to appoint a representative in that country who can communicate on your behalf with data protection authorities. The GDPR and its official supporting documents do not give guidance for situat