Doing business in Europe can put a U.S. organization’s privacy practices under a different level of scrutiny. A European business partner may understand that your organization has a privacy program, but during procurement or due diligence, assurances alone may not be enough. European Union (EU) companies sharing personal data with a U.S. organization may look for credible evidence that the data is handled in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.
Trust matters with European customers, too. In the EU, data protection is recognized as a fundamental right, and individuals often expect organizations to be clear and careful about how their personal data is collected, used, and protected. For U.S. organizations looking to grow in European markets, demonstrating sound privacy practices can help build that trust.
Europrivacy offers a structured way to provide that evidence. This article covers what Europrivacy is, why it may matter for U.S. organizations, and how certification works.
What Is Europrivacy?
Europrivacy is the European Data Protection Seal, a GDPR certification program approved by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). An organization pursues Europrivacy certification for a defined activity, and a successful assessment results in the seal for that activity. Find additional information here, “Europrivacy GDPR Certification: What US Firms Should Know.”
Europrivacy applies to defined personal data processing activities, including processing associated with products and services. This scope matters because certification focuses on a specific processing activity instead of covering an organization in its entirety.
A useful way to understand Europrivacy is to separate three distinct roles:
- The GDPR establishes the regulatory requirements.
- Europrivacy provides the certification criteria that apply to defined processing activities.
- An independent certification body assesses the selected activity and determines whether certification requirements are met.
Forvis Mazars can help organizations interpret these requirements and map them to their own processes.
Why Europrivacy Is Growing
Cross-border data transfers can be an important reason for U.S. organizations to consider Europrivacy, particularly when EU customers or partners expect clearer evidence of data protection practices.
Europrivacy also may be used in connection with international transfers under Article 46 of the GDPR. Certification should be weighed within the organization’s broader privacy, legal, operational, and data transfer strategy, taking into account the circumstances surrounding the processing activity.
For business leaders, the relevant question is how certification could address business goals and needs. This may include supporting EU business relationships, responding to stakeholder expectations, strengthening governance, or providing independent evidence during customer and procurement discussions.
Once the goal or need is clear, scope becomes the natural starting point. The organization needs to identify what should be certified, why that activity matters, and whether the processes and documentation are ready for independent assessment.
Choosing What to Certify
The activity selected for certification is known as the Target of Evaluation (ToE). It sets the boundaries for what will be assessed and helps determine which processes, systems, documentation, controls, and stakeholders fall within the certification scope.
For example, an organization might focus on a customer onboarding process, invoicing activity, service offering, or another defined process involving personal data. The scope makes clear that certification applies to specific processing activities.
What the Europrivacy Certification Process Looks Like
Once an organization identifies its ToE, readiness becomes the next consideration. The process generally builds on privacy, security, governance, and documentation practices already in place. Organizations with established programs may have much of the underlying material needed for assessment.
The certification journey moves through several connected stages, which include defining the ToE, assessing current practices against applicable requirements, addressing identified gaps, preparing documentation and evidence, and undergoing an independent audit.
Readiness work can surface questions that can be easy to overlook when privacy compliance is viewed only at the enterprise level, including:
- Are the boundaries of the processing activity clear?
- Is ownership established?
- Do documented policies reflect how the process operates?
- Can the organization produce evidence supporting those practices?
Forvis Mazars can help organizations work through these readiness questions before independent assessment begins.
Existing security and privacy work may provide a useful foundation. For organizations with ISO 27001 or ISO 27701 certifications, for example, relevant controls and evidence may already support aspects of the assessment, depending on the relationship to the ToE.
What Independent Assessment Looks Like
Independent assessment moves the process from readiness to external examination.
The certification body assesses the selected processing activity through document reviews, stakeholder interviews, sampling, examinations, and testing, as appropriate to the defined scope.
The assessment may identify areas that need to be addressed before certification can proceed. Unclear scope, incomplete documentation, or gaps between documented requirements and operational processes will likely require remediation before certification.
When the applicable requirements are satisfied, certification may be issued by a certification body. Certification is valid for three years, with surveillance activities during the certification cycle and a new certification process after that period. During this time, organizations should track changes in systems, vendors, processes, and regulatory requirements that could affect the certified activity.
Is Europrivacy a Fit for Your Organization?
Certification carries greater value when an organization can connect the scope of assessment to a defined regulatory, governance, or business decision.
Leaders considering Europrivacy should ask:
- What would certification help address? What’s the business reason for pursuing it?
- What would the organization certify? Is there a meaningful processing activity, product, or service with clear boundaries?
- How mature is the underlying work? Are relevant processing activities, responsibilities, policies, and evidence documented to support external review?
- Who owns the process? Are the appropriate privacy, legal, compliance, security, operational, and business stakeholders prepared to support assessment and remediation?
- Is the organization prepared to maintain certification? Can it support the ongoing activities associated with the certification cycle?
The answers may point toward certification, further readiness work, or another approach. An unclear scope or incomplete documentation, for example, can signal that strengthening the underlying privacy program should come first.
Next Steps for Leaders Considering Europrivacy
- Connect certification to a specific EU business goal or need.
- Identify a candidate processing activity with clear boundaries and a defined owner.
- Compare documented policies with how that activity operates day to day.
- Take stock of existing ISO 27001, ISO 27701, or other privacy evidence that may support assessment.
- Plan for the resources needed to maintain certification across the three-year cycle.
How Forvis Mazars Can Help
For organizations considering Europrivacy, defining the right scope is an important early step. Forvis Mazars can help interpret and map GDPR and Europrivacy requirements to your operations, identify a candidate processing activity, define the ToE, and check whether existing policies, processes, documentation, and evidence support the scope.
Readiness work also can help clarify ownership, identify gaps that may need remediation, and determine how existing privacy and security efforts can support the certification process. From here, professionals at Forvis Mazars can also help the organization prepare for independent assessment. The certification body conducts the audit and makes the certification determination.
For a deeper look, watch the on-demand webinar, “Why Should US Orgs Certify Their GDPR Compliance?”
Have questions? IT Risk & Compliance professionals at Forvis Mazars are ready to assist. Connect with us today.