How to automate your RoPA with Openli?

Aušra Mažutavičienė
Written by
Aušra Mažutavičienė
on
May 2, 2024

What is RoPA?

One of the key GDPR requirements is to maintain a RoPA (“Record of Processing Activities”).

GDPR lays down minimum details that need to be recorded to help demonstrate compliance. 

To put it simply: RoPA is documented evidence that you know what you are doing with all the personal data you process in your organisation.

How to build your RoPA?

Building a useful and efficient RoPA is a long journey. Creating and maintaining the RoPA can be a challenge, it’s time-consuming and requires a lot of resources. What’s more? By the time the first version is defined, it is probably already out of date.

While GDPR is clear about what needs to be recorded in the RoPA, the law says nothing about how to do it. 

If you want a comprehensive RoPA, you may need to carry out bottom-up exercises and involve all teams in every area of the organisation. 

While the term ”data processing activity” may be familiar to privacy professionals, if you want all teams to be involved, this may lead to lengthy, too-detailed conversations and inconsistent output.

Openli’s approach to RoPA

Openli can help you optimise the RoPA process. And the solution is simple - automation. In automating input to your RoPA, you’ll minimise efforts.  

Let’s be honest - fully automating RoPA is probably illusory. But we can automate most of your RoPA and help you focus your resources where absolutely needed. 

So Openli’s RoPA is different -  we built it around systems, not processing activities.

Why? Because data processing is happening within a system. Internal or external, but there’s always a system / tool / app where personal data is uploaded and then processed.

Everyone knows what systems they use, so it’s easier to bring your RoPA closer to your organisation, make it relevant and, ultimately, more accurate. 

As you know, we help collect information about your data processing in third party systems, so we can automate this part of your RoPA. That’s about 80% of the work (if not more!).

As for internal systems - you can add this information yourself using the same layout and structure as we have for your third party vendors.

And then that’s it - you have it. A comprehensive RoPA report with minimal efforts. 

Just download, customise, and share it.

If you have any questions or need help with any parts of your RoPA, just let us know