GDPR·Article Article 60·low·Component: Chapter VII: Cooperation and Consistency

What this control requires

This control ensures cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and other concerned supervisory authorities to reach consensus on decisions. It includes the exchange of relevant information, joint operations for investigations, and handling objections to draft decisions. The lead authority must communicate decisions to the controller, processor, and other authorities involved. This control addresses Cooperation and Consistency.
— GDPR, Article Article 60

In plain English

This control ensures cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and other concerned supervisory authorities to reach consensus on decisions. In practice, this means you can prove you information controller-level controls on a defined cadence.

Why it matters

GDPR administrative fines reach the greater of €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) coordinates supervisory-authority enforcement across the EU/EEA, and DPAs publish enforcement decisions citing specific Articles.

What an auditor looks for

A DPA or privacy auditor expects: a Records of Processing Activities (RoPA) entry, a documented lawful basis, evidence the Article's data-subject right is operationalised end-to-end, a named DPO contact (where required), and Article 30 records that match what the front-end actually does.

Within Chapter VII: Cooperation and Consistency, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Article Article 60) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

How to implement

Policy Management

Docs. Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

Operational checklist

  • Information. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Joint. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Processor. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Cooperation. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Supervisory. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Scope: controller, supervisory authority, lead supervisory authority, investigations, information.

Evidence to collect

  • Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.
  • Infra Scan. Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned.

Common pitfalls

  • Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

Related controls in GDPR

References

Topics: governance riskpolicy management