THE VALUE OF GDPR READINESS
The General Data Protection Regulation brings the protection of personal data into a comprehensive legal framework. It sets out obligations on controllers and processors covering lawful basis, transparency, security, accountability, data subject rights and the use of personal data in automated decision-making.
For customers, boards and other stakeholders, well-documented compliance provides credible assurance that personal data is handled to a defensible standard across the organisation and its supply chain.
Establish what personal data is processed, on what lawful basis and for what purpose, and how obligations map to real activities across the business.
Give leadership a reliable view of processing activities, third-country transfers, risk assessments and where action remains outstanding.
Maintain records of processing, DPIAs, transfer risk assessments and rights-handling evidence that can withstand regulator, customer and board review.
HOW WE WORK
Where AI systems process personal data, GDPR does not stop applying. We work through lawful basis, transparency, automated decision-making, DPIAs and international transfers on the specific systems in scope, and connect that record to your wider AI governance.
OUR APPROACH
Hael provides the specialist capacity, structure and judgement needed to move the programme forward. We work across leadership, legal, risk, security, product and engineering, while ensuring that ownership remains within your organisation.
We identify the processing activities within scope, the organisation’s role for each, the lawful basis relied upon and the governance already in place.
The result is a defensible position, readiness assessment and implementation plan, with named responsibilities and decisions for leadership.
We develop and embed records of processing, policies, transparency notices, contracts, security measures, transfer safeguards and rights-handling procedures required by the Regulation.
The work is designed around how your organisation functions, not around a generic set of templates.
We complete data protection impact assessments for high-risk processing, address Article 22 considerations for automated decisions and prepare technical and organisational measures that reflect real risk.
We then support ongoing review as processing activities and technologies change.
INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE
The GDPR is not certified in the same way as a management system. Our role is to prepare your organisation for scrutiny by regulators, enterprise customers and boards, and to ensure the arrangements presented are supported by real ownership, operating controls and reliable evidence.
Where accountability is being reported alongside SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO/IEC 42001, we help align the evidence, brief the people who will be interviewed and support the response to findings. Any regulatory decision remains with the competent supervisory authority.
Once arrangements are in place, we can continue to support ongoing accountability, rights handling, incident response, transfer arrangements and controlled expansion of scope.
PLANNING YOUR PROGRAMME
The route to readiness depends on the intended scope, the processing activities involved, the organisation’s role as controller or processor and the governance already operating. Cross-border processing and the involvement of AI systems also affect the delivery plan.
We establish these facts before committing to a delivery plan. You receive a defined scope, workstreams, responsibilities, timetable and fee, based on the organisation you have rather than a generic compliance promise.
Where ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001 or established risk-management processes are already in place, we reuse relevant structures and evidence. We identify what transfers, what needs adapting and what must be created specifically for the Regulation.
CONNECTED REQUIREMENTS
The Regulation should strengthen existing governance rather than create a parallel compliance structure. We map relevant controls, processes and evidence across related frameworks while preserving the distinct purpose of each one.
Integrate data-protection accountability with the information security management system rather than running the two in parallel.
Extend accountability into the governance of AI systems that process personal data, using compatible structures and reusing relevant evidence.
Align data-protection obligations with the classification, documentation and monitoring obligations attaching to AI systems under the Act.
Use the framework’s risk-management activities to structure Article 22 and DPIA assessments for AI-enabled processing.
