GDPR Article 30 requires a Record of Processing Activities for every processing operation involving personal data. Every AI tool your company uses to process EU personal data is a new processing operation. This template gives you pre-filled entries for 12 common AI tools — copy them into your RoPA.
Article 30 GDPR requires controllers to maintain a written record (the RoPA) covering every processing activity they carry out. For each activity, the record must include:
| Field |
What to document |
| Purpose |
Why you are processing the data |
| Legal basis |
Which GDPR legal basis applies (Art. 6 and Art. 9 if special categories) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Who the data belongs to (customers, employees, prospects) |
| Categories of personal data |
What data is processed (names, emails, health data, etc.) |
| Recipients |
Who receives the data — including processors (the AI vendor) |
| Third-country transfers |
Whether data leaves the EEA and what safeguards apply |
| Retention period |
How long you keep the data (including what the AI vendor retains) |
| Security measures |
Technical/organizational measures to protect the data |
AI tools add complexity to almost every one of these fields:
- Recipients: the AI vendor becomes a sub-processor that must appear in your RoPA
- Third-country transfers: most AI APIs process data in the US, triggering SCCs or equivalent safeguards
- Retention: the AI vendor's data retention period (typically 30 days for API providers) must be understood and documented
- Security: your DPA with the AI vendor is the key security measure reference
Copy each block into your RoPA document. Adjust fields marked [customize] for your specific use case.
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI text generation and analysis — ChatGPT API |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| DPO (if applicable) |
[DPO name and contact, if you have one] |
| Purpose |
[customize] — e.g., customer support drafting, document summarization, internal query answering |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — efficient processing of business queries; or Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) if used directly for customer service |
| Categories of data subjects |
[customize] — e.g., customers, employees, end users |
| Categories of personal data |
[customize] — e.g., names, email addresses, customer query content, document text containing PII |
| Processor |
OpenAI, L.L.C. (1960 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs, Module 2: Controller to Processor) incorporated in OpenAI API Terms + Data Processing Addendum |
| Vendor retention |
30 days (API inputs/outputs retained for abuse detection, then deleted) |
| Your retention |
[customize] — e.g., 90 days in your logging system; then deleted |
| Training on data |
No — API data not used to train OpenAI models by default |
| Security measures |
TLS in transit; AES-256 at rest; OpenAI SOC 2 Type II report available at trust.openai.com; DPA incorporated in API Terms |
| DPA reference |
OpenAI Data Processing Addendum (openai.com/policies/data-processing-addendum) |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI text generation and analysis — Claude API |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| DPO (if applicable) |
[DPO name and contact] |
| Purpose |
[customize] — e.g., document review, code review, customer query answering |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
[customize] |
| Categories of personal data |
[customize] |
| Processor |
Anthropic, PBC (548 Market Street PMB 90375, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: SCCs (Module 2) incorporated in Anthropic API Terms + Data Processing Addendum |
| Vendor retention |
30 days (retained for trust and safety review, then deleted) |
| Your retention |
[customize] |
| Training on data |
No — API data not used to train Anthropic models |
| Security measures |
Anthropic trust portal: trust.anthropic.com; DPA incorporated in API Terms |
| DPA reference |
Anthropic API Terms of Service (anthropic.com/legal) — DPA incorporated by reference |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI code completion — GitHub Copilot |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Developer productivity — code completion and suggestion |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — productivity tool for software development |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees (developers) — code they write may incidentally contain PII in comments, variable names, or test data |
| Categories of personal data |
Code content (may contain PII if developers embed real data in code); developer account data |
| Processor |
GitHub, Inc. (88 Colin P Kelly Jr Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA) / Microsoft |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: SCCs under Microsoft/GitHub DPA; EU data residency available on Enterprise plans |
| Vendor retention |
Prompts and suggestions are not retained beyond the session for Business/Enterprise plans; telemetry retained per GitHub privacy policy |
| Your retention |
Not applicable (Copilot suggestions not stored in your systems unless developers copy them) |
| Training on data |
Business and Enterprise: code prompts not used to train models. Individual plan: may contribute to model training |
| Security measures |
GitHub Enterprise compliance: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001; DPA at github.com/customer-terms |
| DPA reference |
GitHub Customer Agreement + Data Protection Agreement |
| Note |
Ensure developers do not paste real personal data into Copilot chat; configure exclude patterns for sensitive files |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted productivity — Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Employee productivity — email drafting, document summarization, meeting notes, data analysis |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees; customers (if customer emails or documents are processed) |
| Categories of personal data |
Email content, document text, meeting transcripts, calendar data, Teams messages — all may contain PII |
| Processor |
Microsoft Corporation (One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
EU data residency available (EU Data Boundary). Safeguard: Microsoft Data Protection Addendum with SCCs |
| Vendor retention |
Customer data not used to train foundation models; Microsoft retains for service operation per retention settings you configure |
| Your retention |
Controlled by Microsoft 365 retention policies you configure in Purview |
| Training on data |
No — M365 Copilot does not train foundation models on customer data |
| Security measures |
ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP (where applicable); Microsoft Data Protection Addendum |
| DPA reference |
Microsoft Online Services DPA (microsoft.com/licensing/docs) |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted productivity — Gemini for Google Workspace |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Email drafting, document summarization, spreadsheet analysis, presentation creation |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees; customers (if customer data appears in Workspace documents) |
| Categories of personal data |
Email content, document text, spreadsheet data, Drive files — may contain PII |
| Processor |
Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
EU data residency available for Workspace (EU customers). Safeguard: Google Cloud Data Processing Addendum with SCCs |
| Vendor retention |
Workspace data governed by your Google Admin retention settings; Gemini prompts not used to train Google's general AI models for Workspace customers |
| Training on data |
No — Google Workspace customer data not used to train general AI models |
| Security measures |
ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II; Google Cloud DPA |
| DPA reference |
Google Workspace Data Processing Addendum |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted knowledge management — Notion AI |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Note taking, document drafting, knowledge base summarization |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees; potentially customers if customer data is stored in Notion |
| Categories of personal data |
Workspace content — notes, documents, project data that may contain names, contact details, internal data |
| Processor |
Notion Labs, Inc. (2300 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: Notion DPA with SCCs available for Business and Enterprise plans |
| Vendor retention |
Notion AI queries retained for 30 days; workspace data per your retention settings |
| Training on data |
No — Notion AI data not used to train models (Business and Enterprise) |
| Security measures |
SOC 2 Type II; Notion DPA |
| DPA reference |
Notion Data Processing Addendum (notion.so/privacy) |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI writing assistance — Grammarly Business |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Grammar and style checking for employee-written content |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees; text may contain customer references |
| Categories of personal data |
Written content submitted for correction — may contain names, contact details, business-sensitive information |
| Processor |
Grammarly, Inc. (548 Market Street, Suite 35000, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: Grammarly DPA with SCCs (Business and Enterprise) |
| Vendor retention |
Text submitted for checking not retained beyond processing per Grammarly Business terms |
| Training on data |
Grammarly Business: user data not used to train models (review Grammarly's current enterprise terms) |
| Security measures |
SOC 2 Type II; Grammarly Security whitepaper |
| DPA reference |
Grammarly Data Processing Addendum (grammarly.com/privacy-policy) |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI video generation — HeyGen |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
[customize] — e.g., product demos, training videos, marketing content using AI avatars |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)); Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) if using real employee likenesses |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees (if using real likenesses); end viewers if video contains personal data |
| Categories of personal data |
Avatar likeness data (if using employee avatar); script text (may contain PII); generated video files |
| Processor |
HeyGen Interactive, Inc. (San Francisco, CA, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Safeguard: HeyGen DPA with SCCs (Enterprise) |
| Vendor retention |
Generated videos retained per HeyGen account settings |
| Training on data |
Review HeyGen enterprise terms — consumer-tier data handling differs from enterprise |
| Security measures |
[Review current HeyGen security documentation] |
| DPA reference |
HeyGen Enterprise DPA |
| Special note |
Likeness consent: if any real person's face or voice is used, obtain signed written consent before using. Relevant to Washington state AI likeness law (effective June 10, 2026) and similar laws. |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted customer service — Intercom Fin AI |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Automated customer support responses; query routing; conversation summarization |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — efficient customer support; or Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) if AI resolves service requests |
| Categories of data subjects |
Customers |
| Categories of personal data |
Customer names, email addresses, support conversation content, account identifiers — typically high-PII environment |
| Processor |
Intercom, Inc. (55 2nd Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. EU data residency available. Safeguard: Intercom DPA with SCCs |
| Vendor retention |
Conversation data retained per your Intercom workspace settings; AI model not trained on your customer data |
| Training on data |
Intercom's AI uses your knowledge base to answer questions but does not train a shared model on customer conversation PII |
| Security measures |
SOC 2 Type II; Intercom DPA |
| DPA reference |
Intercom Data Processing Agreement (intercom.com/legal) |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted candidate screening — [Tool name] |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Resume screening; candidate ranking; interview scheduling |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests is difficult to sustain for automated hiring decisions — use explicit consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) or necessity for entering a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)). Check for Art. 22 compliance: if fully automated decision-making with significant effect on candidates, additional safeguards required. |
| Categories of data subjects |
Job applicants |
| Categories of personal data |
Names, CVs, cover letters, contact details, interview notes — potentially protected characteristics (age, gender implied by names/dates) |
| Processor |
[AI hiring tool vendor name and address] |
| Third-country transfer |
[Confirm with vendor] |
| Vendor retention |
[Confirm with vendor — candidates have access rights] |
| Training on data |
[Confirm with vendor — critical for bias risk] |
| Security measures |
[Vendor security documentation] |
| DPA reference |
[Vendor DPA] |
| GDPR Art. 22 note |
If candidates can be rejected automatically by AI without meaningful human review, Art. 22 GDPR applies. You must: inform candidates of automated processing; provide a right to human review; ensure the candidate can contest the decision. |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI-assisted CRM — Salesforce Einstein |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
Sales forecasting, lead scoring, email writing assistance, opportunity insights |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Categories of data subjects |
Customers; prospects; partners |
| Categories of personal data |
Customer names, contact details, deal history, communication content, behavioral data |
| Processor |
Salesforce, Inc. (415 Mission Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
EU data residency available (Salesforce EU Operating Region). Safeguard: Salesforce DPA with SCCs |
| Vendor retention |
Per your Salesforce data retention configuration; Salesforce Data Processing Addendum governs AI features |
| Training on data |
Einstein AI features use your Salesforce data to generate insights for your org only — not for training a shared model |
| Security measures |
ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II; Salesforce Trust (trust.salesforce.com) |
| DPA reference |
Salesforce Data Processing Addendum |
| Field |
Entry |
| Activity name |
AI image generation — Midjourney |
| Controller |
[Your company name] |
| Purpose |
[customize] — e.g., marketing image creation, presentation graphics |
| Legal basis |
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — if no personal data in prompts |
| Categories of data subjects |
Employees (if prompts contain employee details); depicted individuals (if prompts reference real people) |
| Categories of personal data |
Prompt text (only personal data if prompts contain PII or references to real individuals); generated images (personal data only if depicting real people) |
| Processor |
Midjourney, Inc. (San Francisco, CA, USA) |
| Third-country transfer |
Yes — US processing. Midjourney DPA availability: limited; enterprise/API options only |
| Vendor retention |
Prompts and generated images stored in Midjourney servers; accessible to other users on public servers unless private mode enabled |
| Training on data |
Midjourney trains on submitted prompts and images unless you have a private plan |
| Security measures |
[Review current Midjourney enterprise documentation] |
| DPA reference |
Midjourney does not offer a standard GDPR DPA for consumer accounts. Enterprise API customers should request a DPA. |
| Risk note |
Do not include personal data in Midjourney prompts on consumer or shared accounts. Do not generate images depicting real, identifiable individuals without consent (relevant to Washington likeness law and similar state laws). |
After filling in entries for each AI tool:
1. Review data subject rights implications
For each AI tool entry, confirm you can fulfil subject access requests (SARs). If a data subject asks for all their personal data, can you retrieve what was sent to each AI tool? If not, your data flows need improvement before your RoPA is complete.
2. Add your DPA references
For each AI tool, confirm you have a signed DPA. If any tool lacks a DPA and processes EU personal data, either sign one or stop using that tool for personal data. The RoPA without a DPA is incomplete.
3. Check your consent records for high-risk processing
For hiring tools (Art. 22) and any special category data (health, biometrics) processed through AI, add a column confirming the consent or other legal basis is documented separately.
4. Review retention in both directions
Your RoPA must document both your retention period and the AI vendor's retention period. If your vendor retains data for 30 days and you retain for 2 years, your RoPA should reflect both — and you should consider whether the vendor's 30-day period creates a gap in your ability to respond to SARs.
5. Update annually at minimum
AI tool landscapes change fast. DPAs get updated, vendors add new sub-processors, and data residency options expand. Review your AI RoPA entries at least annually or when you add a new AI tool.
Sources: GDPR Article 30 text; EDPB guidelines on records of processing activities; vendor DPAs and privacy policies cited above. This template is for reference — have your DPO or legal counsel review before relying on it for compliance.
