GDPR Compliance for Global Organizations
The EU General Data Protection Regulation sets the global standard for personal data protection - with fines up to 4% of global annual revenue and regulatory enforcement that has cost organizations billions.
Why GDPR Compliance Is Non-Negotiable
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effective May 2018, fundamentally changed how organizations handle the personal data of EU residents. It applies to any organization anywhere in the world that processes personal data of people in the EU - meaning US companies, SaaS providers, cloud services, and any business with EU customers or employees must comply, regardless of where servers are located.
GDPR's enforcement regime has teeth. The regulation empowers supervisory authorities to impose fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover - whichever is higher. Since enforcement began, regulators have issued billions in fines against organizations including Meta (€1.2B), Amazon (€746M), Google (€150M), and thousands of smaller companies. Fines for inadequate security measures and failure to honor data subject rights are the most common enforcement actions.
Beyond fines, GDPR compliance is increasingly a competitive requirement. Enterprise procurement processes now include GDPR compliance questionnaires, Data Processing Agreement (DPA) requirements, and Transfer Impact Assessments. Dark Rock's privacy team has structured GDPR programs for US-based SaaS companies, healthcare organizations, and financial services firms - building compliant programs that satisfy enterprise customers and protect against regulatory risk.
Our Approach
Data Mapping & ROPA
We conduct a comprehensive personal data inventory, mapping data flows across your systems, third-party processors, and international transfers. The output is a Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) - the foundational GDPR compliance artifact that documents every processing activity, lawful basis, retention period, and data transfer.
Gap Assessment
We assess your current GDPR posture across all 11 chapters of the regulation - lawful basis documentation, privacy notices, data subject rights procedures, DPA agreements, breach notification processes, DPIA triggers, and security controls. You receive a prioritized remediation plan mapped to GDPR articles.
Program Implementation
Our team implements the full GDPR program: updating privacy policies and notices, drafting Data Processing Agreements with vendors, building data subject rights workflows (access, erasure, portability, restriction), establishing a DPIA process, and implementing security measures appropriate to the risk.
Ongoing Compliance
GDPR compliance is not a one-time project. We establish governance structures - DPO support, annual privacy reviews, staff training, breach response procedures, and cross-border transfer monitoring - to maintain compliance as your data practices and regulatory guidance evolve.
What You Get
- Personal data inventory and comprehensive data flow mapping
- Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) covering all processing operations
- Lawful basis analysis for each processing activity
- Privacy notice and policy updates aligned to Articles 13/14
- Data Processing Agreement (DPA) template library for vendor relationships
- Data subject rights request workflows (access, erasure, portability, objection)
- Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) methodology and templates
- Breach notification procedures and 72-hour incident response playbook
- Cross-border data transfer compliance documentation (SCCs, adequacy decisions)
0%
Of global annual revenue - the maximum GDPR fine for the most serious violations, making non-compliance one of the most expensive regulatory risks.
