# India DPDP Act 2023 SC-007 — Lawful Processing Matrix

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-007-lawful-processing-matrix
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India)](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023) › Scope & Classification (SC)
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**India DPDP Act 2023**·Control `SC-007`·high·Component: **Scope & Classification**

## What this control requires

> Create and maintain a Lawful Processing Matrix linking every processing activity in the ROPA to its lawful basis under the DPDPA (consent or specific legitimate use under Sec 7). For each activity, document: legal basis, basis-specific evidence, and review frequency. Prohibit processing without a documented lawful basis. Objective: Ensure every personal data processing activity can be demonstrated as lawful under the DPDPA with documented evidence of the applicable basis.
> 
> — India DPDP Act 2023, Control SC-007

### In plain English

Create and maintain a Lawful Processing Matrix linking every processing activity in the ROPA to its lawful basis under the DPDPA (consent or specific legitimate use under Sec 7). In practice, this means you can prove you maintain lawful processing matrix-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

Penalties under the DPDP Act reach ₹250 crore per instance of significant non-compliance, and the Act applies extra-territorially to any entity processing personal data of individuals in India in connection with offering goods or services.

This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation.

## What an auditor looks for

Indian DPAs and statutory auditors will look for: documented consent capture and revocation flows, a designated Data Protection Officer (for Significant Data Fiduciaries), breach-notification workflows tied to Data Protection Board notification timelines, and Records of Processing that match the consent notice the user saw.

Within **Scope & Classification**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SC-007) 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.

#### Asset Inventory

**AWS.** AWS Config Aggregator across every account + region gives a real-time inventory; ship the daily snapshot to S3 and surface drift in Security Hub.

**Azure.** Azure Resource Graph plus Defender for Cloud's inventory blade enumerates every subscription; export to Log Analytics for retention and Workbooks for reporting.

**GCP.** Cloud Asset Inventory exports a daily feed of every resource and IAM binding; query via BigQuery and alert on appearance/disappearance.

**Endpoints.** Pipe MDM telemetry (Intune / Jamf / Workspace ONE) into your CMDB so laptops and phones are inventoried with the same rigour as cloud resources.

### Operational checklist

-   **Maintain.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Document.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Ensure.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** lawful processing matrix.

## Evidence to collect

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

Signed policies, procedures, and registers document the safeguard. Focus: Lawful Processing Matrix.

## Common pitfalls

-   Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.
-   Inventories that exclude SaaS, shadow IT and ephemeral cloud resources (Lambda, Cloud Run, K8s pods) miss the assets where most modern incidents start.

## 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.

-   [**ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.1.2.3** — Identify lawful basis](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-1-2-3-identify-lawful-basis)
-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) P3.2** — Consent Management for Personal Information Collection](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/p3-2-consent-management-for-personal-information-collection)
-   [**GDPR Article 2** — Material Scope](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/gdpr/article-2-material-scope)

## Related controls in India DPDP Act 2023

-   [**Control SC-008** — Children's Data Processing Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-008-children-s-data-processing-controls)
-   [**Control SC-001** — Digital Personal Data Inventory](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-001-digital-personal-data-inventory)
-   [**Control SC-006** — Consent Manager Oversight & Agreement](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-006-consent-manager-oversight-agreement)
-   [**Control SC-003** — Data Fiduciary Role Assignment & ROPA](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-003-data-fiduciary-role-assignment-ropa)
-   [**Control SC-005** — Data Processor Register & DPA Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-005-data-processor-register-dpa-management)
-   [**Control SC-002** — Data Principal Identification & Guardian Consent Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023/sc-002-data-principal-identification-guardian-consent-management)

## References

-   [Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (India) — India DPDP Act 2023](https://www.meity.gov.in/content/digital-personal-data-protection-act-2023)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Control SC-007`

Topics: governance riskdata protectionprivacy managementpolicy managementasset inventory

## Related compliance guidance

- [India's DPDP Act 2023: a practical compliance guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/india-dpdp-act-2023): Start with the full DPDP Act implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [GDPR compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/gdpr): Most teams extend an existing GDPR programme to India; this guide shows where the lawful bases, timelines and breach rules differ.
- [ISO/IEC 27001:2022 compliance: a practical implementation guide](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022): Rule 6's reasonable security safeguards map almost one-to-one onto ISO 27001 Annex A controls you may already operate.
