ISO 27701: Certified Privacy Management Built on Your ISMS
Extend your ISO 27001 ISMS into a certified Privacy Information Management System - demonstrate GDPR alignment and earn global privacy trust.
Why ISO 27701 Is the Privacy Standard for Global Operations
ISO/IEC 27701 is the international standard for Privacy Information Management Systems (PIMS). It extends ISO 27001 - adding privacy-specific controls for organizations acting as Personal Information Controllers (PICs) and Personal Information Processors (PIPs). If you collect, process, or store personal data at scale, ISO 27701 certification provides independently verified evidence that your privacy program meets international standards.
ISO 27701 was designed with GDPR alignment in mind. The standard maps directly to GDPR Articles and the UK GDPR, and it provides a structured framework for demonstrating compliance with privacy obligations that national data protection authorities and enterprise data protection officers recognize. For organizations operating across the EU, UK, and APAC markets subject to PDPA, LGPD, and similar regulations, ISO 27701 consolidates privacy governance into a single certifiable management system.
Because ISO 27701 is an extension of ISO 27001, you cannot pursue it in isolation - either you have an existing ISO 27001 ISMS, or you build them concurrently. The efficiency gain is significant: approximately 60% of the controls overlap. Dark Rock manages both certifications as a unified program, delivering ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certificates simultaneously while minimizing total implementation effort.
Our Approach
Assess
Privacy impact assessment and data mapping: identify all personal information your organization controls or processes, document data flows, legal bases for processing, retention schedules, and cross-border transfer mechanisms. Gap assessment against ISO 27701 extension controls for both PIC and PIP roles, layered onto your existing ISO 27001 assessment.
Remediate
Implement privacy-specific controls: data subject rights fulfillment processes (access, erasure, portability, objection), consent management, data minimization practices, privacy by design integration into your SDLC, vendor data processing agreements (DPAs), and breach notification procedures meeting 72-hour GDPR requirements.
Implement
Extend your ISMS documentation to include PIMS-specific artifacts: Privacy Policy aligned to transparency requirements, Records of Processing Activities (RoPA) as required by GDPR Article 30, Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) process, and a privacy risk register integrated with your information security risk register.
Certify
Coordinate joint Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits with your certification body covering both ISO 27001 and ISO 27701. We prepare your privacy team for auditor interviews, compile evidence of data subject rights fulfillment, and resolve any nonconformities before final certificate issuance - delivering both certificates in a single engagement.
What You Get
- Personal information inventory and data flow mapping
- ISO 27701 gap assessment (PIC and PIP controls)
- Records of Processing Activities (RoPA) compliant with GDPR Article 30
- Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) process and template
- Privacy by design integration into SDLC documentation
- Data subject rights fulfillment procedures and response workflows
- Vendor DPA review and template library
- Joint ISO 27001 + ISO 27701 certification audit support
GDPR
aligned - ISO 27701 maps directly to EU GDPR Articles, providing structured evidence for regulators
