What is a ROPA?
A Record of Processing Activities is a documented inventory of the personal data processing activities carried out by an organisation. It sets out what data is processed, why it is processed, who it is shared with, how long it is retained, and what safeguards are in place.
Although many organisations assume this requirement only applies to larger businesses, the exemption is narrow and, in practice, most organisations that process employee, customer or special category data should maintain an up-to-date ROPA.
What our ROPA service includes
Review of your current data processing activities across departments, systems and suppliers.
Structured identification of processing purposes, lawful bases, categories of personal data and categories of data subjects.
Mapping of recipients, processors, transfers, retention periods and security measures.
Creation or remediation of your ROPA in a clear, usable format.
Advice on gaps, inconsistencies and areas that may require additional compliance action.
Support to align your ROPA with related documents such as privacy notices, retention schedules and DPIAs.
How the service works
We begin by understanding your organisation, systems, suppliers and day-to-day processing activity. From there, we identify each relevant processing activity and document the information required for an effective ROPA. Where existing records already exist, we can review and improve them rather than starting from scratch.
The finished output is designed to be practical, maintainable and suitable for ongoing internal governance, audit preparation and regulatory accountability.
Why it matters
An accurate ROPA helps demonstrate accountability, supports faster responses to data subject requests, highlights unnecessary or high-risk processing, and provides the foundation for broader compliance improvements.
It can also make supplier reviews, retention planning and DPIA scoping far more efficient by giving you a reliable picture of how personal data is handled across the organisation.
Get support with your ROPA
Whether you need a ROPA built from the ground up or an existing record reviewed and strengthened, our service provides practical, structured support tailored to your organisation. The result is a clear and defensible record of processing activities that supports compliance and helps embed good data governance across the business.