In a recent blog post, my colleague Mark Johnson examined how companies structure data protection obligations in vendor contracts, focusing on key provisions that allocate risk and define how personal data is handled in practice. One of the primary mechanisms used to address those obligations is the Data Processing Agreement (or Addendum) (DPA)
In some commercial relationships, a DPA is not simply good practice, but a specific legal requirement1 when one party processes personal data on behalf of another under applicable privacy laws.
At the same time, DPAs have increasingly become a standard feature in many commercial agreements involving personal data, even when not strictly required by law. Their value extends beyond compliance, functioning as both operational frameworks and key risk-allocation tools to help define:
