Mazars and Europrivacy partner to provide GDPR certifications

13 October 2022: Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm, is pleased to announce its new partnership with Europrivacy to provide companies with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance certifications. This is the first and only GDPR certification recognised by all EU Member States since the launch of the GDPR four years ago, and has been authorised by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). This certification positions companies as front-runners in data protection with a strong competitive advantage in the market.

Europrivacy: The official European Data Protection Seal for certification approved by the EU

The EDPB approved Europrivacy as official European Data Protection Seal for certification under art. 42 GDPR. Europrivacy enables companies to assess and formally certify their data processing compliance. Europrivacy certificates will be formally recognised in all EU jurisdictions and will be taken into account by authorities in case of litigation. Europrivacy is an innovative methodology and certification scheme developed through the European research programme to simplify, enhance and certify compliance with privacy regulations. It covers the GDPR obligations and is extendable to other non-EU privacy laws. Europrivacy is supervised and continuously updated by an International Board of Experts to address regulatory changes. It is made available for free to selected service providers and is already supported by an ecosystem of qualified law firms, consulting companies, solution providers, and certification bodies, including world leaders in each category (for more information: https://europrivacy.com).

Europrivacy will start by being applied on the territory of the European Union and will progressively be extended to other countries.

Reducing risks for all parties 

Europrivacy certification enables all stakeholders to identify and select companies that effectively protect personal data. It enables companies to identify potential gaps with the regulation and reduce their legal, financial, and reputational risks. They can use it to monitor and document their compliance and to assess third-parties’ compliance before transferring data.

Valuing data protection compliance

Compliance is usually perceived as a burden and a cost by companies. With Europrivacy they can value and communicate the GDPR compliance of their data processing activities. It turns compliance into an asset, a source of trust and competitive advantages.

Making GDPR compliance more effective, efficient, and enjoyable

Europrivacy’s mission is to make data protection compliance more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. DPOs and auditors can get qualified on the Europrivacy online academy. They benefit from a variety of online tools and resources, including an online community to collaborate and share knowledge with other experts.

An innovative certification scheme

Europrivacy was researched and developed through the European research programme. It brings a whole set of innovations to support GDPR compliance and certification, including a hybrid certification scheme, that is applicable to all sorts of data processing activities, while addressing domain and technology-specific obligations and risks for the data subjects. It is also applicable to emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Blockchain, and is extendable to complementary national obligations, including non-EU regulations.

Mazars partners with Europrivacy to provide GDPR compliance certification

To deliver GDPR compliance certification, Mazars brings certified GDPR certification specialists from various risk and compliance backgrounds, based in the EEA and USA, who have the expertise to deal with large complex organisations and processing activities. They support companies to prepare for the audit and certification of a processing activity, at the same time enhancing their compliance with national and international data protection laws and filling gaps between the Europrivacy scheme requirements and the existing controls within the organisation.

Testimonials

The formal acceptance of Europrivacy as a “European Data Protection Seal” provides excellent opportunities for organisations to leverage their investments in data protection to achieve competitive advantage. Early adopters will distinguish themselves and increase consumer and stakeholder trust.

Liam McKenna Partner, Consulting

Europrivacy’s ambition is to build trust and confidence in data protection, and to make data protection compliance as easy and natural as breathing air.

Dr Sébastien Ziegler President of Europrivacy International Board of Experts

Europrivacy has brought together some of the most seasoned European experts in data protection, cybersecurity and certification in order to deliver an efficient and comprehensive certification scheme that fully covers complex obligations.

Luca Bolognini President of the Italian Institute of Privacy

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