ISO/IEC 27701:2025·Annex A A.3.3·high·Component: Security considerations (controllers/processors)

What this control requires

Define, approve, publish, communicate and review information security policies related to PII processing. Implementation: Develop privacy/security policies (or augment ISMS), review at intervals, record approvals. Justification: Policies show management commitment and provide control framework.
— ISO/IEC 27701:2025, Annex A A.3.3

In plain English

Define, approve, publish, communicate and review information security policies related to PII processing. In practice, this means you can prove you implement information security policies-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 (controllers/processors), the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.3.3) 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.
  • Define. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Provide. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
  • Scope: information security policies.

Evidence to collect

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

Signed policies, procedures, and registers document the safeguard. Focus: Information security policies.

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 ISO/IEC 27701:2025

References

Topics: governance riskpolicy management