GDPR Audit Prep

Operational playbook for GDPR audit preparation — whether triggered by a Data Protection Authority (DPA) inquiry, customer-side DPA review, internal compliance audit, or annual self-assessment.

When to use this skill vs. gdpr-dsgvo-expert:

• This skill: audit imminent (4-12 weeks); need execution sprint
• gdpr-dsgvo-expert: building GDPR program; designing DPIA process; multi-quarter

When to use this skill

The audit-prep sprint at a glance

4-week sprint (well-prepared org, periodic review)

Week 1: ROPA review + DPO engagement plan
Week 2: Gap remediation (policies, notices, technical)
Week 3: Evidence compilation + walkthroughs
Week 4: Audit week / submission

8-week sprint (gaps remaining)

Weeks 1-2: ROPA update + gap identification
Weeks 3-5: Gap closure (DPAs, notices, security, retention)
Weeks 6-7: Evidence + walkthroughs
Week 8: Audit

12-week sprint (DPA inquiry response)

Weeks 1-2: Inquiry analysis + response strategy + DPO engagement
Weeks 3-8: Targeted evidence collection + remediation
Weeks 9-10: Formal response drafting + legal review
Weeks 11-12: Submission + ongoing dialogue

See references/gdpr-pre-audit-checklist.md for the full pre-audit punch list and references/dpo-engagement-playbook.md for DPO-coordinated audit response.

Critical GDPR audit areas

1. ROPA (Records of Processing Activities, Article 30)

Every processing activity documented:

• Purpose of processing
• Categories of data subjects + data types
• Recipients (internal + external)
• International transfers (and lawful basis)
• Retention periods
• Security measures
• Lawful basis (consent, contract, legitimate interest, etc.)
• DPIA reference (if high-risk)

Audit gap: ROPA incomplete, stale, or missing for processing activities surfaced during audit.

2. Privacy Notices (Article 13/14)

• Privacy notice published + current
• Contains all required information (data controller, purposes, lawful basis, retention, rights, complaints contact, etc.)
• Easily accessible (no dark patterns)
• Translated for EU member states (where required)

3. Data Subject Rights (Article 12-23)

• Process documented + tested
• Response time tracked (< 1 month standard; extension possible)
• Identity verification
• Records of requests and responses (last 12 months)

4. Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs, Article 35)

• High-risk processing activities identified
• DPIA conducted for each
• Mitigations documented
• DPO consulted (Article 35.2)

5. Data Processing Agreements (Article 28)

• DPA with every processor (vendor, sub-service org)
• Covers required clauses (Article 28.3)
• Annual review

6. Security Measures (Article 32)

• Technical and organizational measures documented
• Risk-appropriate (encryption, access control, backup, etc.)
• Tested and reviewed

7. Breach Notification (Article 33/34)

• Process documented
• 72-hour authority notification capability
• Past-period breaches: notified appropriately + documented

8. International Transfers (Chapter V)

• Mechanism for each transfer (SCCs, BCRs, adequacy decision)
• Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) for non-adequacy countries
• Schrems II compliance for US transfers

Clarify First

Before running the audit-prep, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• Audit trigger — supervisory-authority inquiry, customer DPA audit, internal audit, or annual self-assessment (sets the 4/8/12-week sprint and whether formal response drafting is needed)
• Org readiness — well-prepared vs gaps remaining (picks the 4-week vs 8-week sprint)
• Processing scope and role — controller vs processor, and which activities/ROPA are in scope (drives the ROPA and DPA focus)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the readiness assessment.

Quick start

1. Run readiness score: python3 scripts/gdpr_readiness_score.py --config gdpr-controls.yaml
2. Check ROPA completeness: python3 scripts/ropa_completeness_checker.py --ropa ropa.yaml
3. Engage DPO: Walk through findings with DPO; finalize sprint scope
4. Execute sprint per references/gdpr-pre-audit-checklist.md

Common GDPR audit failures

• ROPA missing or out-of-date. Often the first thing an auditor asks.
• Privacy notice generic — boilerplate not actually reflecting actual processing.
• DPIA missing for high-risk processing (AI / profiling / large-scale monitoring / sensitive data).
• DPAs not signed with all processors — easy oversight; substantial finding.
• International transfer mechanism unclear post-Schrems II.
• Breach notification process untested — first breach is the test.
• Consent not freely given — bundled consent, pre-ticked boxes, take-it-or-leave-it.
• No DPO appointed when required (Article 37 — public authority, large-scale monitoring, etc.).
• Data subject rights process untested — request comes in, no one knows what to do.

Tooling

References

• gdpr-pre-audit-checklist.md — full checklist per GDPR area
• dpo-engagement-playbook.md — DPO-coordinated audit response

Related skills

• ra-qm-team/gdpr-dsgvo-expert — deep GDPR program management
• ra-qm-team/audit-prep/compliance-readiness — multi-framework readiness (GDPR + ISO 27001 + SOC 2)
• ra-qm-team/ccpa-cpra-privacy-expert — US privacy counterpart
• ra-qm-team/audit-prep/ai-act-readiness — EU AI Act overlay for AI processing