GDPR Compliance & Cross-Border Data Transfer Advisory

Overview

Indian companies that process personal data of EU data subjects — whether as processors under contracts with European clients or as controllers operating services available in the EU — are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regardless of where the processing occurs. The penalties for GDPR non-compliance are substantial: up to 4% of global annual turnover or EUR 20 million, whichever is higher. Indian IT services companies, BPOs, SaaS providers, and Indian subsidiaries of European groups face the most significant exposure. Corpus Juris Legal advises Indian companies on end-to-end GDPR compliance — from initial applicability assessment and data mapping through to implementation of lawful processing bases, data subject rights response procedures, data breach notification protocols, and records of processing activities (ROPA). For cross-border data transfers from the EU to India, we advise on the appropriate legal transfer mechanism — Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) under GDPR Article 46, Binding Corporate Rules for multinational groups, or adequacy determination implications. Following the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, Indian companies now operate under a dual compliance obligation — GDPR for EU data subjects and the DPDP Act 2023 for Indian data principals. We advise on harmonising these frameworks to avoid conflicting obligations and build a unified compliance architecture that satisfies both regulatory regimes. For Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) under GDPR Article 28, we draft and negotiate agreements that satisfy European client procurement requirements while protecting the Indian company's operational flexibility.

Key Service Components

• ◆GDPR applicability assessment for Indian companies processing EU data
• ◆Data mapping and Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) preparation
• ◆Lawful basis identification and consent mechanism design
• ◆Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) — drafting and implementation for EU-India transfers
• ◆GDPR Article 28 Data Processing Agreement drafting and negotiation
• ◆Data subject rights response procedure design
• ◆GDPR data breach notification protocol under Article 33/34
• ◆DPDP Act 2023 and GDPR harmonisation advisory
• ◆Data Protection Officer (DPO) advisory and appointment support
• ◆GDPR compliance audit and gap assessment for Indian IT companies

Our Approach

We begin every GDPR engagement with a technical and legal data mapping exercise — understanding how data flows before advising on how to protect it. Compliance frameworks we build are designed to survive regulatory audit, not just to satisfy enterprise procurement questionnaires.

Other Technology, Data & Privacy Law Services