# ISO/IEC 42001:2023 A.7.3 — Acquisition of data

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-7-3-acquisition-of-data
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [ISO/IEC 42001:2023 (AI Management System) Annex A Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023) › Technological controls
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**ISO/IEC 42001:2023**·Annex A `A.7.3`·high·Component: **Technological controls**

## What this control requires

> Data acquisition for AI use shall be governed through defined criteria, approvals, and third-party due diligence where applicable.
> 
> — ISO/IEC 42001:2023, Annex A A.7.3

### In plain English

Data acquisition for AI use shall be governed through defined criteria, approvals, and third-party due diligence where applicable. In practice, this means you can prove you define data-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

ISO 42001 is the first audited evidence regulators, customers and investors can ask for that you are managing AI risk. Each Annex A control is a check-box in that audit; it is also the management system enterprises are starting to require from AI vendors before an MSA can be signed.

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

An ISO 42001 auditor verifies you have an AI policy, a risk-based system of impact assessments for each AI system, lifecycle controls from data acquisition through retirement, and third-party-AI controls that pierce the vendor's wrapper to underlying model behaviour.

Within **Technological controls**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.7.3) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

1.  Write a short policy stating intent, scope and named owner.
2.  Encode it as a platform guardrail — SCP, Azure Policy initiative, Organisation Policy, or repository policy.
3.  Wire a monitoring signal that catches drift (CSPM rule, SIEM rule, scheduled query, Workspace alert) and ticket it.
4.  Review on a documented cadence and capture the review in the risk register or compliance tracker.

### Operational checklist

-   **Define.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Govern.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Use.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** data.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.
-   **Vendor Risk Management.** `vendor_risk_management` evidence

Policies and vendor risk evidence should demonstrate defined criteria, approvals, and due diligence for data acquisition used in AI systems. Focus: Acquisition of data.

## Related controls in ISO/IEC 42001:2023

-   [**Annex A A.6.2.4** — Data acquisition](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-6-2-4-data-acquisition)
-   [**Annex A A.6.2.6** — Data provenance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-6-2-6-data-provenance)
-   [**Annex A A.6.2.7** — Preparation of data](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-6-2-7-preparation-of-data)
-   [**Annex A A.7.5** — Data provenance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-7-5-data-provenance)
-   [**Annex A A.7.6** — Data preparation](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-7-6-data-preparation)
-   [**Annex A A.7.2** — Data for development and enhancement of AI systems](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-7-2-data-for-development-and-enhancement-of-ai-systems)

## References

-   [ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 — ISO/IEC 42001:2023](https://www.iso.org/standard/81230.html)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Annex A A.7.3`

Topics: data governancevendor riskdata acquisitionvendor managementdata lifecycle management