Policy Register

Legitimate interests assessment

The recorded three-part test behind every processing activity that relies on legitimate interests.

How the register reads it

Also calledLIA, balancing test
FamilyPrivacy
Document typeRecord. The regimes ask for the content, not the label; a line pasted as a standard, procedure, plan or schedule is placed here with the label noted.
Folds intoThe regimes accept it folded into the record of processing activities; when neither is listed, the gap is counted once, under the parent.
Expected ownerThe data protection officer or privacy lead.
Review cadenceAnnual (the register's default: the clauses say planned intervals and on significant change, and do not fix a period).
On the gap list whennever on its own: the register recognises it and names the clauses, but no ticked regime lists it as a separate document (its parent, record of processing activities, is).
TemplateLegitimate interests assessment template.

Which standards require it, and what each expects it to contain

2 requiring clauses, 2 regimes

Shown on a register for the regimes you tick; with none ticked, ISO 27001 is applied. Requirement text drawn from a human-verified compliance corpus under licence: the corpus statement of each clause, not the instrument verbatim.

ISO/IEC 27701:2025

ISO 27701 A.1.2.3 Identify lawful basis

The organization must determine, document and comply with the lawful basis for each processing activity against its identified purposes, documenting the basis per activity, including any special categories of personal data in its classification scheme with awareness that the classification and its consequences vary by jurisdiction and regime, and revisiting the basis and any need for fresh consent whenever purposes change or extend.

Evidence an auditor accepts: Lawful basis recorded against each processing activity, with the reasoning; where legitimate interests is relied on, the balancing against obligations to individuals; classification scheme entries covering special categories, mapped to the jurisdictions that define them
Common gap: Consent recorded as the basis for processing that is in fact contractual, creating a withdrawal right the organization cannot honour
Source: ISO/IEC 27701:2025

GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

GDPR Art. 6 Lawfulness of processing

Process personal data only where at least one lawful basis applies: the data subject's consent, necessity for a contract with the data subject or pre-contractual steps at their request, compliance with a legal obligation, protection of vital interests, performance of a public interest task or exercise of official authority, or legitimate interests that are not overridden by the data subject's interests, rights and freedoms. Public authorities cannot rely on legitimate interests for processing carried out in performance of their tasks. Where the basis is legal obligation or public task, that basis must be laid down in Union or Member State law and the purpose must be determined in it. Before processing for a purpose other than the one collected for, without consent or a legal mandate, assess compatibility against the link between the purposes, the context of collection, the nature of the data, the consequences for the data subject and the safeguards in place.

Evidence an auditor accepts: A lawful basis recorded per processing activity, not per system or per department; legitimate interests assessments showing the interest pursued, the necessity test and the balancing against the data subject's rights; the Union or Member State provision cited where the basis is legal obligation or public task
Common gap: Consent recorded as the basis where the processing would happen regardless of the answer, which makes it neither free nor the real basis
Source: GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

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