# ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.18 — Confidentiality agreements

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-18-confidentiality-agreements
- 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.3.18`·high·Component: **Security considerations**

## What this control requires

> Identify, document and require confidentiality agreements as needed. Implementation: Implement NDA process, records and periodic review. Justification: Enforces confidentiality obligations for staff and third parties.
> 
> — ISO/IEC 27701:2025, Annex A A.3.18

### In plain English

Identify, document and require confidentiality agreements as needed. In practice, this means you can prove you implement confidentiality agreements-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.3.18) 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.
-   **Document.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** confidentiality agreements.

## Evidence to collect

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

Signed policies, procedures, and registers document the safeguard. Infrastructure posture tooling (AWS/Azure/GCP configuration, encryption, backup, logging) verifies technical enforcement. Focus: Confidentiality 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.

-   [**GDPR Article 96** — Relationship with previously concluded Agreements](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/gdpr/article-96-relationship-with-previously-concluded-agreements)
-   [**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)
-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC2.3** — External Communication on Internal Control Matters](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc2-3-external-communication-on-internal-control-matters)

## Related controls in ISO/IEC 27701:2025

-   [**Annex A A.3.15** — Independent review](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-15-independent-review)
-   [**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.3.10** — Supplier agreements](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-10-supplier-agreements)
-   [**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.3.4** — 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.3.18`

Topics: governance riskpolicy management