ISO/IEC 27701:2025: Why Privacy Certification Is Becoming a Business Requirement, Not Just a Compliance Exercise

Privacy has evolved from a legal concern into a business imperative.

Customers want assurance that their personal data is handled responsibly, while regulators increasingly expect organizations to demonstrate accountability. Procurement teams now routinely evaluate privacy practices before awarding contracts, and executive leadership recognizes that privacy failures can quickly become reputational, operational and financial crises.

Against this backdrop, the release of ISO/IEC 27701:2025, the updated international standard for privacy information management systems (PIMS), arrived at an important moment for organizations seeking to demonstrate trust in an increasingly data-driven economy. The updated standard provides a structured framework for managing privacy risks, protecting personally identifiable information (PII) and demonstrating accountability across the organization.

Privacy is no longer optional

Almost every organization processes personal data today. Whether you are delivering software, managing employee records, operating an e-commerce platform, providing healthcare services, running a financial institution or supporting a global supply chain, privacy expectations continue to rise.

The challenge is that many organizations still manage privacy through a collection of policies, legal reviews and isolated controls. While these activities are valuable, they often lack the governance structure needed to demonstrate consistent and auditable privacy management. ISO/IEC 27701:2025 helps organizations move beyond ad hoc privacy controls by establishing a formal management system for privacy governance, risk management, accountability and continual improvement.

What's new in ISO/IEC 27701:2025?

One of the most significant changes in the 2025 edition is that ISO/IEC 27701 is now a stand-alone management system standard. Previously, organizations typically needed ISO/IEC 27001 (information security management systems, ISMS) as a prerequisite. The updated version makes privacy certification more accessible to organizations that may not yet have implemented a full ISMS. This change creates new opportunities for organizations to establish formal privacy governance without first embarking on a broader security certification journey.

For organizations already certified to ISO 9001 (quality management systems, QMS) or ISO/IEC 27001, the transition is even more compelling. The management system structure follows the same guidance, including leadership commitment, documented processes, internal auditing, management review and continual improvement. This makes an integrated management system approach and audit certification possible, resulting in efficiency gains.

Why organizations are pursuing privacy certification

Organizations often begin the certification journey for several reasons:

1. Building customer trust

Privacy has become a competitive differentiator.

Customers, partners and stakeholders increasingly want independent assurance that organizations manage personal data responsibly. Certification provides objective, third-party validation that privacy practices are governed, monitored and regularly assessed.

2. Meeting procurement and tender requirements

Many procurement teams now ask detailed privacy and data protection questions during vendor evaluations. Organizations are increasingly expected to provide evidence of privacy management rather than simply stating compliance with relevant regulations. Certification offers a recognized credential that can support supplier questionnaires, customer due diligence processes and competitive tenders.

3. Demonstrating accountability

Privacy laws, like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), continue to expand globally, and regulatory expectations are becoming more operational. Rather than treating privacy as a purely legal function, organizations are being asked to demonstrate ongoing governance, risk assessment, defined responsibilities and evidence-based oversight. ISO/IEC 27701:2025 provides the framework to support those objectives.

4. Reducing business risk

Data breaches, privacy incidents and poor data governance can result in financial costs, operational disruption and reputational impact. A structured PIMS helps organizations identify privacy risks proactively, assign responsibilities clearly and embed privacy considerations into business processes before problems occur.

Why the timing matters

There is also a practical reason to act now.

The privacy landscape is changing rapidly. Organizations face evolving privacy expectations, growing use of AI, increasing scrutiny around personal data processing and a widening range of national and regional privacy regulations. Many organizations are rapidly deploying generative AI, AI agents, intelligent automation, customer-facing chatbots and AI-driven analytics. These technologies create significant opportunities for innovation, but they also increase the amount of personal data being collected, processed, shared and retained, making effective privacy governance more important than ever.

Questions that were once managed by legal or compliance teams are now becoming operational challenges for the entire business:

• What personal data is being used by AI systems?
• Who is responsible for approving AI use cases involving personal information?
• How long is data retained?
• Which third parties have access to it?
• How are data subject rights handled when AI systems are involved?
• How can the organization demonstrate accountability to regulators, customers and business partners?

At the same time, the updated ISO/IEC 27701 standard provides organizations with a modern framework for addressing contemporary privacy governance challenges.

Early adopters can establish a competitive advantage by demonstrating mature privacy practices before certification becomes a baseline expectation across their sector. Organizations already certified to ISO/IEC 27701:2019 cannot remain on this previous version indefinitely. With the formal transition period ending in October 2028, privacy leaders should begin evaluating the updated requirements now rather than waiting until the final year of the transition window.

SGS and the next generation of privacy certification

We are proud to have achieved ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) accreditation for ISO/IEC 27701:2025 and ISO/IEC 27706:2025, enabling us to provide accredited certification against the latest editions of these standards.

This accreditation allows our SGS DIGITAL TRUST experts to support organizations seeking to strengthen privacy governance, build stakeholder confidence and demonstrate responsible data processing through an internationally recognized certification program.

For organizations already certified against ISO 9001 or ISO/IEC 27001, certification can often be integrated into existing management system programs, helping reduce disruption while expanding trust and assurance capabilities.

Looking ahead

Privacy expectations will continue to grow. AI will accelerate the volume and complexity of personal data processing. Customers and regulators alike will demand greater transparency and accountability.

The organizations that succeed will not be those that treat privacy as a compliance checkbox. They will be those that embed privacy into governance, strategy and operations.

ISO/IEC 27701:2025 provides a practical framework for doing exactly that.

As one of the first certification bodies accredited by ANAB to certify against ISO/IEC 27701:2025, we are helping organizations strengthen privacy governance, demonstrate accountability and build trust in an increasingly data-driven world.

In the age of AI, trust begins with how data is governed. Privacy is no longer just about compliance. It is about confidence, accountability and earning the trust that modern business depends on.

Start or enhance your ISO/IEC 27701 certification journey with a proven partner.

By SGS DIGITAL TRUST
Gonda Lamberink, VP Digital Trust