In the increasingly data-driven world, having robust data privacy is not a legal obligation anymore. It has become a strategic imperative for businesses out there. For the Indian companies, navigating this space has become a complex interplay between international legislation such as the European Union’s General Data Protection (GDPR) and globally implemented standards such as ISO 27701 and India’s own privacy governance framework. the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) rules.
Read: The DPDP Compliance Checklist (2025): Step-by-Step Guide for Indian Businesses
In this blog, we are exploring how ISO 27701 and GDPR are helping shape the data privacy governance framework, DPDP rules, of India, which is also responsible for providing a roadmap to the local businesses aiming for international trust and legal compliance.
GDPR: Setting a Global Benchmark
One of the most influential data protection laws looked up to globally is GDPR. While these privacy governance laws cater to the EU regulations, their impact on the Indian privacy governance framework is immense due to its extraterritorial scope.
The Mandatory Requirement for Indian Businesses
For a large portion of the Indian economy - especially the IT sector, e-commerce platforms, BPOs, and travel companies operating in the EU jurisdiction, GDPR compliance is mandatory. The e-commerce platform selling products to customers in Paris or the Indian tech firm providing services to its German customers must adhere to these GDPR privacy governance rules.
Failure to comply with these rules can even result in severe penalties, potentially reaching €20million or 4% of the company’s overall annual turnover, whichever is higher. Even the DPDP rules launched in India levy heavy penalties on organisations upon non-compliance.
Read: Penalties Under DPDP: Fines, Breach Scenarios, and How to Reduce
Influence of GDPR Privacy Governance Principles on Indian Privacy Laws Several core tenets of GDPR have become the de facto standard for the Indian privacy governance framework:
- Data Subject Rights: This empowers people with rights like access, data portability, and even erasure.
- Consent: The need for proper consent before processing any personal data.
- Data Protection Officers (DPOs): Requirement of designated experts to oversee compliance being followed within enterprises.
- Transparency and Accountability: Ensuring companies demonstrate their compliance through records of processing activities (RoPA) and clear policies.
Read: Principles of Data Privacy and Protection Explained| Core Principles of DPDP
ISO 27701: Roadmap for Practical Implementation
While GDPR is responsible for defining what must be achieved with respect to privacy compliance, it provides very little guidance on how these requirements can be operationalised. This is where ISO 27701 comes in handy and plays a very crucial role for Indian businesses.
ISO 27701 is an international standard required for privacy governance. It acts as an extension to the widely accepted information security standard of ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002.
The Gap between Practice and Law
ISO 27701 also translates the legal requirements in GDPR into an actionable, auditable, and concrete framework. It offers proper implementation guidance for both data principles and data fiduciaries.
The various steps that ISO 27701 offers to meet these international standards include mapping data flows, managing consent records, implementing security controls, and handling data subject requests. A key aspect of DPDP rules and GDPR is accountability. Enterprises shouldn’t just comply with these laws but also demonstrate that compliance in an effective manner.
Read : DPDP vs GDPR : A Complete Guide for Indian Businesses
ISO 27701 certification provides an internationally recognised and powerful method to prove accountability. The Indian IT service providers use it as a potent competitive differentiator to signal the international clients about the organisation’s adherence to rigorous global privacy standards.
India’s Privacy Governance Law: DPDP Rules
India has launched its own privacy governance law, the DPDP Act, which marks the new era of data and privacy governance. The DPDP rules share the underlying philosophical narrative with GDPR, with its focus on purpose limitation, consent, as well as data minimisation through various nuances.
The true power for Indian businesses lies in adopting the DPDP rules as soon as possible and implementing the ISO 27701 framework to operationalise these high standards in an auditable and consistent fashion. The enterprises should strive to meet the DPDP rules as quickly as possible, as the timelines to adopt the same are within the next 18 months since its launch in November 2025. By leveraging this synergistic route, the Indian companies can avoid the inefficiency of siloed compliance programs across multiple geographies.
Privy by IDfy,India’s first full-stack data privacy and governance platform, helps you become DPDP compliant in days. It is one of the top contributors to the implementation of DPDP rules across enterprises in India.
Also Read: Top 5 Consent Management Platforms in India 2025
Conclusion
GDPR, DPDP, and ISO 27701 are helping Indian businesses reach global competitiveness and organizational maturity. These privacy governance frameworks provide a high watermark for data protection rights and force the Indian entities to imbibe privacy in their core operations.
In today’s age and time, data breaches are common, with consumer trust becoming more and more fragile. The enterprises that will adopt these frameworks faster will have an edge in global competitiveness. Privacy is no longer a necessity; it has become a competitive edge both domestically and internationally. Privy by IDfy exactly helps you solve this and get ahead of the curve.
Get in touch with us at shivani@idfy.com so that we can help you streamline your DPDP compliance journey.