SmartSuite for the Privacy Counsel
Privacy Counsel provides legal oversight of data processing, contracts and regulatory interpretation. They verify lawful bases, review privacy clauses and third-party data handling terms, and oversee the legal aspects of privacy incidents and investigations.
What you own
Privacy Counsel provides legal oversight of data processing, contracts and regulatory interpretation.
- Advise on lawful bases and regulatory interpretation for processing
- Review data processing agreements and privacy clauses
- Oversee legal aspects of privacy incidents and notifications
- Support regulatory inquiries and data subject disputes
- Review privacy notices and policies
- Track privacy law developments across jurisdictions
At a glance
The GRC processes this role owns, touches and depends on.
Owns
accountable for the process
Touches
contributes or approves
Depends on
consumes its output
How the GRC processes connect
Three lines of defense set the frame; the chain shows where each process hands off to the next. Colors follow the role: navy is owned, blue is touched, gray is depended on.
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
How SmartSuite supports this role
Lead
Privacy. Standardizes processing reviews, evidence collection and legal sign-off workflows with document logs.
Third-party risk. Reviews privacy clauses and third-party data handling terms against the vendor record.
Issues and actions. Oversees the legal workstream of privacy incidents as tracked cases.
Reporting. Provides counsel a view of open processing reviews, incidents and contract approvals.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
GDPR, the UK GDPR and the growing set of US state privacy laws led by CCPA/CPRA set the questions counsel answers: lawful basis, controller and processor terms, data subject rights and breach notification. Cross-border transfers rely on the EU's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
Sector law adds layers: GLBA and state insurance privacy rules for financial firms; HIPAA business associate agreements and state health-data laws for healthcare; the Privacy Act for federal agencies; COPPA, ePrivacy and platform-specific rules for technology companies. The IAPP's CIPP body of knowledge covers the field.
Related roles
Explore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
What does Privacy Counsel own in the privacy program?
Privacy Counsel provides the legal oversight of the privacy program: advising on lawful bases and regulatory interpretation for processing, reviewing data processing agreements and privacy clauses, overseeing the legal aspects of privacy incidents and notifications, supporting regulatory inquiries and data subject disputes, reviewing privacy notices and policies and tracking privacy law developments across jurisdictions. The Data Protection Officer and Privacy Program Manager run the program; counsel decides what the law requires of it.
How does SmartSuite help Privacy Counsel standardize processing reviews and sign-off?
Privacy Risk Management standardizes processing reviews, evidence collection and legal sign-off workflows with document logs, so a new processing activity goes through the same review with the same evidence requested, and counsel's sign-off, with the lawful basis relied on, is recorded against it. The document log holds what was reviewed and when, which is what a regulator asks for in an inquiry, and the Privacy Program Manager sees which reviews are waiting on legal.
How are privacy clauses and vendor data terms reviewed?
Privacy clauses and third-party data handling terms are reviewed against the vendor record, so counsel's review of a data processing agreement, the Standard Contractual Clauses or a HIPAA business associate agreement sits with the vendor it concerns rather than in a separate contract folder. Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) runs the contract workflow, with the Legal Operations Manager routing the review and Privacy Counsel approving the privacy terms inside it, so the approved terms are on the contract.
How does Privacy Counsel oversee the legal workstream of an incident?
The legal workstream of a privacy incident is tracked as a case, so counsel's decisions on notification, privilege and regulatory contact are recorded against the incident with their timing. Incident Management holds the incident itself and Legal Matter Management holds the matter if a dispute or inquiry follows, so the Data Protection Officer's notification work and counsel's legal assessment refer to the same record when the 72-hour GDPR clock or a state breach law is running.
How does this role keep a view of open reviews, incidents and approvals?
SmartSuite provides counsel a view of open processing reviews, incidents and contract approvals, so Privacy Counsel can see what is waiting on legal across the program in one place rather than across the Privacy Program Manager's list, the contracts queue and the incident log. The General Counsel or Chief Privacy Officer sees the same view when asking what is outstanding, and the Compliance Counsel sees where privacy and compliance reviews overlap.
How quickly can legal oversight of privacy be set up in SmartSuite?
New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows. For counsel the first workflow is the processing review: agree the review template and evidence counsel requires for a processing activity, load the reviews and contract approvals currently in progress, and link the active vendor agreements to their vendor records. Open incidents with a legal workstream are loaded as cases so nothing is lost in transition, and from then on counsel's decisions accumulate as the program's legal record.
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