GDPR Article 96 — Relationship with previously concluded Agreements

What this control requires

This control ensures that international agreements for the transfer of personal data to third countries or international organizations, concluded by Member States before 24 May 2016, remain in force until they are amended, replaced, or revoked, provided they comply with Union law as applicable prior to that date. This control addresses Final Provisions.

In plain English

This control ensures that international agreements for the transfer of personal data to third countries or international organizations, concluded by Member States before 24 May 2016, remain in force until they are amended, replaced, or revoked, provided they comply with Union law as applicable prior to that date. In practice, this means you can prove you data relationship with previously concluded agreements-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 XI: Final Provisions, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Article Article 96) 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

• Data. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Prior. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• International. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Relationship. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: relationship with previously concluded agreements.

Evidence to collect

• Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Relationship with previously concluded Agreements.

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.

• SOC 2 (2017 TSC) P3.2 — Consent Management for Personal Information Collection
• ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.18 — Confidentiality agreements

Related controls in GDPR

• Article Article 98 — Review of other Union legal acts on data protection
• Article Article 94 — Repeal of Directive 95/46/EC
• Article Article 95 — Relationship with Directive 2002/58/EC
• Article Article 2 — Material Scope
• Article Article 6 — Lawfulness of processing
• Article Article 7 — Conditions for consent

References

• European Union — GDPR
• Catalogue identifier: Article Article 96

Topics: governance riskpolicy managementprivacy management