ISO 27701: Practical Foundations for a PIMS

ISO 27701 extends your ISO 27001 ISMS into a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS).
Here’s a pragmatic way to stand one up quickly without drowning in templates.

1) Anchor your PIMS to business reality

Start with processing activities (not controls). Build a lightweight ROPA with:

Purpose of processing
Data categories (PII, sensitive)
Legal basis (consent, contract, legitimate interests)
Retention + location
Processors/sub-processors

Tip: If you already catalogue apps in M365, add a “Privacy” tab and keep the ROPA there.

2) DPIAs where risk is real

Run Data Protection Impact Assessments on high-risk processes: large-scale monitoring, sensitive data, AI/ML scoring, cross-border transfers.
Keep it short: context → risks → controls → residual risk → sign-off.

3) Map privacy controls to what you already have

Don’t reinvent. Reuse your ISO 27001 controls and add privacy specifics:

Access: role-based, least privilege, periodic reviews (Entra ID reports).
Data minimisation: collection & retention rules (Purview labels/retention).
Subject rights: documented workflow for access/erasure/correction.
Third parties: standard SCCs / DPAs tracked per vendor.

4) Evidence lives in Microsoft 365

Automate what you can:

Purview: label policies, DLP reports, retention policies — export monthly.
SharePoint: PIMS policies, ROPA, DPIAs, SR logs — versioned with approvals.
Power Automate: monthly snapshots for auditors.

5) What auditors look for

ROPA is complete and maintained
DPIAs for high-risk processing
Subject rights requests are tracked to closure
Processor oversight (DPAs, SCCs, reviews)
Policy + practice alignment (retention, minimisation)