Overview
ISO 31700-1:2023 provides high-level requirements for “privacy by design” in consumer goods and services. Issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), this part of the standard focuses on protecting privacy throughout the entire lifecycle of a consumer product, including data processed by the consumer. The standard emphasizes a proactive, systematic approach to embedding privacy protections into products and services, ensuring that privacy considerations are addressed from the initial design stage to retirement and disposal.
ISO 31700-1 does not mandate specific privacy assurances, methodologies, or technologies. Instead, it guides organizations in establishing frameworks and processes that enable consumer privacy protection by default and by design.
Key Topics
The standard covers the following essential areas:
- Empowerment and Transparency: Ensuring consumers can exercise their privacy rights and understand privacy controls.
- Institutionalization and Responsibility: Assigning roles, responsibilities, and accountability for privacy within organizations and throughout product ecosystems.
- Lifecycle and Ecosystem Approach: Addressing privacy risks and controls across all stages-from product conception, use, maintenance, to decommission and data deletion.
- Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating privacy risks through assessments, third-party evaluations, and ongoing monitoring.
- Consumer Communication: Providing clear, accessible privacy information; responding to inquiries and complaints; communicating breaches.
- Design and Operation of Privacy Controls: Integrating privacy into product development, testing, deployment, operation, and end-of-life processes.
- Documentation and Information Management: Maintaining records related to privacy controls, risk assessments, and communications.
Key terminology defined includes:
- Consumer
- Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- Privacy breach
- Service
- Privacy by design
- Consumer-configurable privacy settings
Applications
ISO 31700-1:2023 is valuable for various organizations, particularly those that:
- Design, manufacture, or offer consumer products or services that process personal data.
- Develop software, digital goods, or connected devices intended for widespread consumer use, such as smart home products or mobile applications.
- Operate globally and must demonstrate due diligence and accountability in privacy protection, aligning with consumer protection laws and expectations.
Key practical applications include:
- Product Designers & Engineers: Applying privacy by design principles from the beginning of the product lifecycle.
- Compliance Managers & Data Protection Officers: Using the standard to support privacy compliance, transparency, and accountability measures.
- Marketers & Customer Service Teams: Ensuring clear privacy communication, supporting rights for data access, rectification, and erasure.
- Cross-functional Privacy Teams: Establishing multidisciplinary oversight and responsiveness for privacy incidents or changes in regulatory requirements.
Adherence to ISO 31700-1 helps organizations build consumer trust, meet evolving legal and societal expectations for data protection, and minimize the risk of privacy breaches.
Related Standards
Organizations utilizing ISO 31700-1:2023 may also benefit from consulting the following related standards:
Integrating ISO 31700-1 with these standards enables a comprehensive privacy management system, strengthening consumer protection and supporting compliance with global data protection regulations.
