GDPR compliance checklist

When it comes to handling personal data, even one mistake can lead to major consequences. From legal penalties to loss of public trust, non-compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can impact businesses of any size. If your team is struggling to understand what counts as “personal data,” how to process it lawfully, or what to do when a data breach occurs, a GDPR compliance checklist helps them manage every requirement in one secure workspace.

When you’re required to document data protection impact assessments (DPIAs), track data subject rights, or prepare breach notifications, this GDPR template simplifies complex compliance rules, especially for US companies or international organizations managing data flows across EU member states.

Who benefits from GDPR compliance checklists?

At Asana, we’ve seen how compliance checklists help teams reduce risk. From legal departments to IT and operations, compliance templates provide a shared process for everyone to maintain GDPR compliant websites.

Legal teams and data protection officers (DPOs)

Legal teams and DPOs use GDPR checklists to verify whether data processing activities meet the lawfulness, fairness, and transparency requirements under GDPR. With detailed records of processing activities, they can demonstrate compliance with supervisory authorities when needed.

IT and security teams

Technical teams monitor how personal data is stored and transferred. GDPR requires them to track how information is encrypted, as well as document cybersecurity and data breach response polices.

Operations and compliance managers

Operations managers coordinate the proper implementation of privacy notices, deletion requests, security controls, and user consent. A centralized GDPR checklist helps streamline this work and avoid undue delay in legal obligations.

US companies operating in the EU

For organizations outside the European Union, a GDPR compliance checklist for US companies makes cross-border data processing more manageable. It ensures compliance even when GDPR doesn’t apply locally but does affect your customers.

Why use Asana’s GDPR compliance checklist

One of our enterprise clients needed to respond to a high-risk personal data breach across several EU regions. Thanks to their Asana-powered GDPR compliance checklist, they responded within the 72-hour deadline and documented every step for their supervisory authority.

Asana’s GDPR checklist template is built to support transparency, structure, and speed. It makes legal and operational collaboration easy, while reducing non-compliance risk.

Benefits of this checklist template include:

• Organize your data collection and processing activities by legal basis

• Document DPIAs and data transfers in one secure workspace

• Assign ownership for notifications, requests, and assessments

• Centralize GDPR website compliance checklist tasks (like cookie notices)

• Coordinate GDPR email compliance checklist steps with marketing teams

How to use a GDPR compliance checklist

This checklist is organized into sections that match GDPR requirements, from data governance to tracking security policies. Each section allows you to assign tasks, set due dates, and evaluate risk levels to keep your website and teams GDPR compliant at every stage. You can also use columns like Review Frequency or Auditor Comments to simplify GDPR audits and expand compliance throughout your company.

Step 1: Governance and accountability

Start by defining who is responsible for GDPR compliance in your organization. Assign a Data Protection Officer (DPO) or internal lead to track accountability, respond to supervisory authorities, and maintain records of processing activities.

You can also use this section to document internal data protection policies, training logs, and internal audits. Include any risk ratings or legal obligations that apply to your business as a public authority or private entity under applicable data protection laws.

Step 2: Lawful processing

Add tasks to define the lawful basis for each processing activity, including consent, contract performance, legal obligation, or legitimate interests. This documentation helps prove lawfulness under Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Include task fields to record categories of personal data, the intended use (purpose limitation), and retention periods (storage limitation). Defining these will help you avoid non-compliance and reassure data protection authorities that you’re managing personal data adequately.

Step 3: Data subject rights

Create tasks to manage access requests, erasure (right to be forgotten), rectification, restriction of processing, and data portability. Assign owners to each task to ensure no request goes unanswered or is delayed.

You can use the Compliance Risk Level column to highlight high-risk rights issues, like automated decision-making or profiling. This step is crucial when GDPR applies to your global user base.

Step 4: Security and breaches

This section of the GDPR template tracks how you implement your security policy and data breach response plans. Create tasks for incident detection, impact assessment, and your notification procedures.

You should also log technical safeguards like encryption or multi-factor authentication. Include guidance on handling data breaches that involve special categories of data or identifiers like IP addresses.

Step 5: Third parties and transfers

Use this section to list all vendors and data processors that handle your customer data. Add tasks to collect and store Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) and document their compliance with GDPR.

Make note of any international data transfers, especially outside the European Union. Tasks should define personal information safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), and any data access requests from public authorities.

Step 6: Privacy by design and default

Create tasks that enforce your data protection by design and default policies across systems and product workflows. This might include limiting access to sensitive data or applying pseudonymization techniques.

Document design reviews, internal GDPR audits, and legal reviews for large-scale processing initiatives. This section reinforces your organization’s proactive commitment to GDPR requirements, not just reactive measures.

Asana documentation features

If you’re looking for a GDPR compliance checklist template for your website or email marketing, Asana features help you customize this template for any team, industry, or use case. We’ve included a few of our favorite compliance features below, but review the complete list of Asana features for even more inspiration.

Custom fields

Track categories of personal data, risk levels, processing locations, or DPIA status with custom dropdowns or tags. You can sort compliance work based on urgency or type of processing activity.

Rules

Create automations for recurring GDPR tasks, like setting reminders for annual privacy policy reviews or notifying your DPO when a high-risk activity is added.

Approvals

Build workflows for legal sign-off, from privacy notices to data transfers. You can assign approvers and track approval history for accountability.

Project view

Visualize GDPR compliance projects like data flow audits or breach simulations using a Gantt-style timeline. This view helps you spot and fix bottlenecks early.

Attachments

Store DPAs, privacy statements, and audit documentation in one place. Link files directly to each checklist item for easy retrieval.

Portfolios

Monitor GDPR readiness across multiple departments or regions by grouping projects into a portfolio view. Use dashboards to report on completion progress and risks.

Recommended integrations for your GDPR compliance template

Asana integrations connect your GDPR compliance checklist template to the tools you already rely on. Visit our app integration hub to find the platforms your team uses regularly.

Google Drive

Attach data protection policies, privacy notices, and audit evidence directly to tasks from Drive.

Slack

Send automated alerts for rights requests or breach response tasks to your Slack channels.

Jira Cloud

Log GDPR-related technical remediation tasks directly in Jira.

Zoom

Schedule DPIA review meetings, DPO consultations, or incident response simulations with embedded Zoom links in tasks.

Hanzo

For teams facing litigation or audit risks, Hanzo helps securely capture and archive Asana activity related to GDPR documentation and workflows.

FAQs about GDPR compliance checklists