Most teams meet ISO 27701 the same way. A customer asks how you protect personal data, the security questionnaire runs longer than anyone planned, and it becomes clear that pointing to your ISO 27001 certificate isn't quite answering the question. Privacy is its own discipline, and buyers have started treating it that way.
The timing helps. ISO 27701 used to sit downstream of ISO 27001, available only to organizations that had already certified their security program. The 2025 revision cut that tie. You can pursue it on its own now, or alongside ISO 27001 if that's the program you already run, which puts a privacy certification within reach of teams that were locked out of it before.
Privacy has moved from a legal formality to something buyers check before they sign, and regulators in more jurisdictions expect you to show your work rather than assert it. A certificate answers those questions once, in a form an auditor has already tested, instead of one questionnaire at a time. It also gives your privacy work a shape, so the effort you're already spending on data mapping, retention, and vendor reviews adds up to something you can prove. This article covers what ISO 27701 asks of you, who needs it, what you gain from it, and what it takes to get certified.
What is ISO 27701?
ISO 27701 is a compliance standard that was developed and released by the International Organization for Standardization or ISO. While the ISO has designed numerous standards across a variety of industries and specialties, ISO 27701 in particular is an extension of one of its most widely used standards: ISO 27001.
If you’re not familiar, ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for securing your information security management system. In other words, following ISO 27001 allows your organization to thoroughly secure data and demonstrate security to clients and business partners.
ISO 27701 is an extension of ISO 27001 that focuses on privacy. While ISO 27001 guides you through constructing and securing your ISMS, ISO 27701 teaches you how to take your ISMS a step further by creating a privacy information management system (PIMS). ISO 27701 hinges on the concept of personally identifiable information (PII) and how to keep user PII private.
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What is a PIMS?
A PIMS, or privacy information management system, is the crux of ISO 27701. Think of your PIMS as the internal system of protocols you use to:
- Collect PII
- Process PII
- Store PII
- Destroy or delete PII
How ISO 27701 defines PII
To understand and follow ISO 27701, you first need to understand what is considered to be PII within the framework of this standard. In general, PII is defined as any information that could be used to identify a user. This includes:
- Name
- Phone number
- Address
- Social security number or other identification number
- Email address
- IP address
- Date of birth
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but these are the primary types of data you might collect that could identify a user.
Who should be ISO 27701 compliant?
Any organization that processes PII can benefit from ISO 27701, and it earns its keep when customers, partners, or regulators want evidence of a managed privacy program. Companies subject to the GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, or similar laws use it to show accountability. Software providers use it to answer privacy questions during sales without rebuilding their case for every deal, which shortens security reviews and keeps deals moving. Healthcare, financial services, and any business that handles large volumes of personal data tend to see the clearest return.
Your obligations depend on your role. The table below shows how scope changes across the two roles the standard defines.
What are the benefits of ISO 27701 compliance?
Is it worth your investment to pursue ISO 27701 compliance? Consider whether these advantages will benefit your organization.
Garnering trust and winning business
As you compete for business and partnerships, your PIMS can be an important factor. A recent consumer survey found that 86% of consumers are concerned about their data privacy. ISO 27701 compliance can give you a leg up on the competition because your clients or partners want to be able to ensure their users that they’ve signed on with a privacy-minded vendor.
If your customers are end users, you can also advertise your ISO 27701 compliance to assure them that their private data is safe. Many consumers won’t be familiar with this standard, but for those who are, or those who look it up, you can become a frontrunner for their business.
Adhering to privacy laws
If your organization collects or has any contact with personal information from EU residents or California residents, or if your operations subject you to HIPAA compliance, you have legal privacy obligations. ISO 27701 can be a vehicle for complying with these critical laws.
These privacy laws are notoriously written in a way that can make it difficult to understand what you do and don’t need to do. ISO 27701 is built around these laws and can give you a more well-constructed path toward becoming and staying legally compliant.
What's inside ISO 27701
ISO 27701 is built from clauses 4 to 10 that define the management program, plus control annexes that spell out what to implement. The clauses set the requirements every certified organization meets. The annexes hold the privacy controls you select based on your role.
What is ISO 27701 certification and how do I get certified?
As of the 2025 revision, you have two routes to that certificate. You can often hire an auditor to assess your ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 compliance at the same time, which many teams still do, or you can now pursue a standalone ISO 27701 certification on its own. Earlier editions treated the standard as supplemental to ISO 27001 and required it first. That prerequisite is gone.
If you hold ISO 27001, integrating the two usually makes sense, because a shared program lets you reuse security evidence and run one coordinated audit. If you already run ISO 27001 software, much of that evidence is collected and mapped for you, which shortens the privacy audit too. If privacy is your main driver and you don't need a full security certification, the standalone route now gets you there without the added weight of ISO 27001.
While the ISO itself doesn't conduct audits or issue certifications, it does publish the rules that auditors follow. For a PIMS, those rules now sit in ISO/IEC 27706:2025, which sets the requirements a certification body meets when it audits and certifies against ISO 27701. When you're confident that you've implemented all the ISO 27701 requirements, you should hire a certification body, and ideally one that is accredited in your country.
The audit itself runs in two stages.
- Stage 1 reviews your documentation and readiness.
- Stage 2 tests how your controls operate in practice. A certificate lasts three years, with annual surveillance audits in between to confirm you keep meeting the requirements.
What you pay varies with a few factors. Organization size and the number of products and regions in scope drive most of the cost, along with whether you act as a controller, a processor, or both. Certification body fees for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits, plus the surveillance audits across those three years, make up the rest. Teams that integrate ISO 27701 with an existing ISO 27001 program usually spend less than teams building a privacy program from nothing, because they reuse security evidence and audit time.
How to prepare for ISO 27701
You can start building a PIMS before you buy the standard or book an audit. A short, ordered path keeps the work manageable.
Name a privacy owner
Someone has to own privacy day to day, or the program stalls. Name a single accountable owner for the PIMS, whether that's a privacy lead, a GRC manager, or a security lead who picks up privacy. Write down who handles data subject requests, vendor reviews, and incident coordination, and use a RACI chart so each task has someone responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. Privacy also touches security and legal, so agree early on how the three teams share work and escalate issues.
Set your scope
Scope decides how much work your PIMS involves, so set it deliberately. Decide which products, services, and regions your PIMS covers, and leave out anything that doesn't handle PII. Confirm whether you act as a controller, a processor, or both, since that choice drives which controls apply, and catalog the categories of personal data you process, from contact details to sensitive categories such as health or biometric records. If you run ISO 27001, line up your PIMS scope with your ISMS so the two programs cover the same ground.
Build your data inventory
You can't protect PII you can't see, so map it before you build controls. Trace where personal data enters, where you store it, and where it flows across your tools and teams, and keep records of processing that capture what data you use, why you use it, and how long you keep it. List the vendors and subprocessors that touch your PII so you can review their practices and keep the picture current.
Run privacy impact assessments
Some processing carries more risk than the rest, and assessments show where to focus. Flag activities that could affect people's privacy most, such as large scale profiling or handling of sensitive data, and review where personal data moves between countries and what safeguards each transfer needs. Check how long you keep personal data and confirm you remove it when you no longer need it. Look closely at any models or automated decisions that use PII, since the 2025 standard gives these more attention.
Capture privacy risks
Privacy risks belong in the same register you use for security, not a separate silo. Record scenarios such as transfers across borders, over retention, or unauthorized access to PII, then score each one for likelihood and impact so you can compare it against your other risks. Decide how you'll treat each risk and name who owns the fix and the follow through.
Assemble your Statement of Applicability
The Statement of Applicability is where your control decisions become auditable. Choose the controller, processor, and shared controls that fit the role you confirmed earlier, and record a reason for every control you leave out, since auditors will check your exclusions. Connect each control to the policies, records, and tests that prove it operates. Update the document as your scope, tools, or risks change so it stays ready for your audit.
How to become ISO 27701 compliant
ISO 27701 gives you a recognized way to show customers and regulators that you handle personal data well, and it carries weight because someone independent checked the work. Getting there comes down to a few things. You need a clear scope, an honest picture of the PII you hold, and records solid enough to hand an auditor without a scramble.
If you're interested in pursuing ISO 27701 compliance, Vanta's automated platform will guide you throughout the entire process. Vanta helps you determine which privacy controls you've already implemented and which controls you still need to work on.
Vanta also provides a centralized place to track all your tasks, follow compliance progress, and document controls. When it’s time for an audit, your auditor can view all your information in one place, leading to a smoother, faster audit. To get a customized view of how Vanta can help you navigate compliance frameworks, sign up for a Vanta demo today.
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Vanta is not a law firm, and this article does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.
Understanding ISO differences
The ultimate guide to ISO 27701
Understanding ISO differences
The ultimate guide to ISO 27701
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Most teams meet ISO 27701 the same way. A customer asks how you protect personal data, the security questionnaire runs longer than anyone planned, and it becomes clear that pointing to your ISO 27001 certificate isn't quite answering the question. Privacy is its own discipline, and buyers have started treating it that way.
The timing helps. ISO 27701 used to sit downstream of ISO 27001, available only to organizations that had already certified their security program. The 2025 revision cut that tie. You can pursue it on its own now, or alongside ISO 27001 if that's the program you already run, which puts a privacy certification within reach of teams that were locked out of it before.
Privacy has moved from a legal formality to something buyers check before they sign, and regulators in more jurisdictions expect you to show your work rather than assert it. A certificate answers those questions once, in a form an auditor has already tested, instead of one questionnaire at a time. It also gives your privacy work a shape, so the effort you're already spending on data mapping, retention, and vendor reviews adds up to something you can prove. This article covers what ISO 27701 asks of you, who needs it, what you gain from it, and what it takes to get certified.
What is ISO 27701?
ISO 27701 is a compliance standard that was developed and released by the International Organization for Standardization or ISO. While the ISO has designed numerous standards across a variety of industries and specialties, ISO 27701 in particular is an extension of one of its most widely used standards: ISO 27001.
If you’re not familiar, ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for securing your information security management system. In other words, following ISO 27001 allows your organization to thoroughly secure data and demonstrate security to clients and business partners.
ISO 27701 is an extension of ISO 27001 that focuses on privacy. While ISO 27001 guides you through constructing and securing your ISMS, ISO 27701 teaches you how to take your ISMS a step further by creating a privacy information management system (PIMS). ISO 27701 hinges on the concept of personally identifiable information (PII) and how to keep user PII private.
{{cta_withimage2="/cta-blocks"}}
What is a PIMS?
A PIMS, or privacy information management system, is the crux of ISO 27701. Think of your PIMS as the internal system of protocols you use to:
- Collect PII
- Process PII
- Store PII
- Destroy or delete PII
How ISO 27701 defines PII
To understand and follow ISO 27701, you first need to understand what is considered to be PII within the framework of this standard. In general, PII is defined as any information that could be used to identify a user. This includes:
- Name
- Phone number
- Address
- Social security number or other identification number
- Email address
- IP address
- Date of birth
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but these are the primary types of data you might collect that could identify a user.
Who should be ISO 27701 compliant?
Any organization that processes PII can benefit from ISO 27701, and it earns its keep when customers, partners, or regulators want evidence of a managed privacy program. Companies subject to the GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, or similar laws use it to show accountability. Software providers use it to answer privacy questions during sales without rebuilding their case for every deal, which shortens security reviews and keeps deals moving. Healthcare, financial services, and any business that handles large volumes of personal data tend to see the clearest return.
Your obligations depend on your role. The table below shows how scope changes across the two roles the standard defines.
What are the benefits of ISO 27701 compliance?
Is it worth your investment to pursue ISO 27701 compliance? Consider whether these advantages will benefit your organization.
Garnering trust and winning business
As you compete for business and partnerships, your PIMS can be an important factor. A recent consumer survey found that 86% of consumers are concerned about their data privacy. ISO 27701 compliance can give you a leg up on the competition because your clients or partners want to be able to ensure their users that they’ve signed on with a privacy-minded vendor.
If your customers are end users, you can also advertise your ISO 27701 compliance to assure them that their private data is safe. Many consumers won’t be familiar with this standard, but for those who are, or those who look it up, you can become a frontrunner for their business.
Adhering to privacy laws
If your organization collects or has any contact with personal information from EU residents or California residents, or if your operations subject you to HIPAA compliance, you have legal privacy obligations. ISO 27701 can be a vehicle for complying with these critical laws.
These privacy laws are notoriously written in a way that can make it difficult to understand what you do and don’t need to do. ISO 27701 is built around these laws and can give you a more well-constructed path toward becoming and staying legally compliant.
What's inside ISO 27701
ISO 27701 is built from clauses 4 to 10 that define the management program, plus control annexes that spell out what to implement. The clauses set the requirements every certified organization meets. The annexes hold the privacy controls you select based on your role.
What is ISO 27701 certification and how do I get certified?
As of the 2025 revision, you have two routes to that certificate. You can often hire an auditor to assess your ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 compliance at the same time, which many teams still do, or you can now pursue a standalone ISO 27701 certification on its own. Earlier editions treated the standard as supplemental to ISO 27001 and required it first. That prerequisite is gone.
If you hold ISO 27001, integrating the two usually makes sense, because a shared program lets you reuse security evidence and run one coordinated audit. If you already run ISO 27001 software, much of that evidence is collected and mapped for you, which shortens the privacy audit too. If privacy is your main driver and you don't need a full security certification, the standalone route now gets you there without the added weight of ISO 27001.
While the ISO itself doesn't conduct audits or issue certifications, it does publish the rules that auditors follow. For a PIMS, those rules now sit in ISO/IEC 27706:2025, which sets the requirements a certification body meets when it audits and certifies against ISO 27701. When you're confident that you've implemented all the ISO 27701 requirements, you should hire a certification body, and ideally one that is accredited in your country.
The audit itself runs in two stages.
- Stage 1 reviews your documentation and readiness.
- Stage 2 tests how your controls operate in practice. A certificate lasts three years, with annual surveillance audits in between to confirm you keep meeting the requirements.
What you pay varies with a few factors. Organization size and the number of products and regions in scope drive most of the cost, along with whether you act as a controller, a processor, or both. Certification body fees for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits, plus the surveillance audits across those three years, make up the rest. Teams that integrate ISO 27701 with an existing ISO 27001 program usually spend less than teams building a privacy program from nothing, because they reuse security evidence and audit time.
How to prepare for ISO 27701
You can start building a PIMS before you buy the standard or book an audit. A short, ordered path keeps the work manageable.
Name a privacy owner
Someone has to own privacy day to day, or the program stalls. Name a single accountable owner for the PIMS, whether that's a privacy lead, a GRC manager, or a security lead who picks up privacy. Write down who handles data subject requests, vendor reviews, and incident coordination, and use a RACI chart so each task has someone responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. Privacy also touches security and legal, so agree early on how the three teams share work and escalate issues.
Set your scope
Scope decides how much work your PIMS involves, so set it deliberately. Decide which products, services, and regions your PIMS covers, and leave out anything that doesn't handle PII. Confirm whether you act as a controller, a processor, or both, since that choice drives which controls apply, and catalog the categories of personal data you process, from contact details to sensitive categories such as health or biometric records. If you run ISO 27001, line up your PIMS scope with your ISMS so the two programs cover the same ground.
Build your data inventory
You can't protect PII you can't see, so map it before you build controls. Trace where personal data enters, where you store it, and where it flows across your tools and teams, and keep records of processing that capture what data you use, why you use it, and how long you keep it. List the vendors and subprocessors that touch your PII so you can review their practices and keep the picture current.
Run privacy impact assessments
Some processing carries more risk than the rest, and assessments show where to focus. Flag activities that could affect people's privacy most, such as large scale profiling or handling of sensitive data, and review where personal data moves between countries and what safeguards each transfer needs. Check how long you keep personal data and confirm you remove it when you no longer need it. Look closely at any models or automated decisions that use PII, since the 2025 standard gives these more attention.
Capture privacy risks
Privacy risks belong in the same register you use for security, not a separate silo. Record scenarios such as transfers across borders, over retention, or unauthorized access to PII, then score each one for likelihood and impact so you can compare it against your other risks. Decide how you'll treat each risk and name who owns the fix and the follow through.
Assemble your Statement of Applicability
The Statement of Applicability is where your control decisions become auditable. Choose the controller, processor, and shared controls that fit the role you confirmed earlier, and record a reason for every control you leave out, since auditors will check your exclusions. Connect each control to the policies, records, and tests that prove it operates. Update the document as your scope, tools, or risks change so it stays ready for your audit.
How to become ISO 27701 compliant
ISO 27701 gives you a recognized way to show customers and regulators that you handle personal data well, and it carries weight because someone independent checked the work. Getting there comes down to a few things. You need a clear scope, an honest picture of the PII you hold, and records solid enough to hand an auditor without a scramble.
If you're interested in pursuing ISO 27701 compliance, Vanta's automated platform will guide you throughout the entire process. Vanta helps you determine which privacy controls you've already implemented and which controls you still need to work on.
Vanta also provides a centralized place to track all your tasks, follow compliance progress, and document controls. When it’s time for an audit, your auditor can view all your information in one place, leading to a smoother, faster audit. To get a customized view of how Vanta can help you navigate compliance frameworks, sign up for a Vanta demo today.
{{cta_simple2="/cta-blocks"}}
Vanta is not a law firm, and this article does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.
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