# ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.15 — Independent review

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-15-independent-review
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [ISO/IEC 27701:2025 PIMS Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025) › Security considerations
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**ISO/IEC 27701:2025**·Annex A `A.3.15`·high·Component: **Security considerations**

## What this control requires

> Review approach and implementation independently at planned intervals or after changes. Implementation: Conduct audits / independent assessments and publish results to customers where appropriate. Justification: Independent review provides assurance and identifies gaps.
> 
> — ISO/IEC 27701:2025, Annex A A.3.15

### In plain English

Review approach and implementation independently at planned intervals or after changes. In practice, this means you can prove you implement independent review-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

ISO 27701 is the international way to evidence the GDPR principle of accountability: certified PIMS controls translate directly into the records, contracts and rights-handling that supervisory authorities want, and into the privacy-engineering evidence SOC 2 + Privacy auditors and enterprise procurement teams ask for.

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

PIMS auditors expect ISO 27001 to be implemented first and then the 27701-additional controls tested. For PII controllers they look at lawful-basis and rights-handling evidence; for PII processors they look at customer-instructions, sub-processor controls and return/transfer/disposal evidence.

Within **Security considerations**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.3.15) 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

-   **Implement.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Conduct.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Provide.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** independent review.

## Evidence to collect

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

Signed policies, procedures, and registers document the safeguard. Focus: Independent review.

## 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) CC4.1** — Control Monitoring](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc4-1-control-monitoring)
-   [**ISO/IEC 42001:2023 A.9.4** — Intended use of AI systems](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-9-4-intended-use-of-ai-systems)
-   [**CIS Controls v8 2.6** — Allowlist Authorized Libraries](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/2-6-allowlist-authorized-libraries)
-   [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.5** — Contact with authorities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-5-contact-with-authorities)
-   [**GDPR Article 83** — General conditions for imposing administrative fines](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/gdpr/article-83-general-conditions-for-imposing-administrative-fines)

## Related controls in ISO/IEC 27701:2025

-   [**Annex A A.3.16** — Compliance with policies](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-16-compliance-with-policies)
-   [**Annex A A.3.18** — Confidentiality agreements](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-18-confidentiality-agreements)
-   [**Annex A A.3.5** — Classification of information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-5-classification-of-information)
-   [**Annex A A.3.4** — Information security roles & responsibilities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-4-information-security-roles-responsibilities)
-   [**Annex A A.3.13** — Legal, statutory, regulatory & contractual reqs](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-13-legal-statutory-regulatory-contractual-reqs)

## References

-   [ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 — ISO/IEC 27701:2025](https://www.iso.org/standard/85819.html)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Annex A A.3.15`

Topics: governance riskpolicy managementcontinuous monitoring