Vendor Risk Management Checklist: 20 Features Your Privacy Management Vendor Can’t Afford to Miss

Selecting a privacy management vendor is no easy feat—especially when so much is on the line. Are you worried that your current vendor isn’t keeping pace with your company’s needs? Or perhaps you’re unsure where to start when comparing new options. What if the features you require just aren’t there?

These questions weigh heavily on the minds of technology, legal, privacy, and compliance professionals, all of whom know the stakes are high.

Choosing a new privacy management vendor, or switching vendors, can feel daunting and uncertain. There’s the concern about making the right choice, the anxiety about what might be lacking, and the fear of finding yourself back at square one. But remember, you’re not alone in this journey. Many professionals have successfully navigated these exact concerns, transforming them into an opportunity to elevate their privacy program.

This article is here to guide you through the key features that a privacy management vendor should offer. With a clearer understanding of what to look for, you’ll be empowered to make a confident, informed decision—one that could unlock new possibilities for privacy resilience and innovation in your organization.

Finding the perfect privacy partner: 20 key vendor features for peace of mind

Explore how you can ensure your next vendor is fully equipped to meet your privacy goals and drive your program forward.

1. Privacy expertise
2. Enterprise-grade automation
3. Regulatory compliance coverage
4. Regulatory database
5. Automated data subject request (DSR) management
6. Data mapping and inventory
7. Risk assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
8. Third-party vendor risk management
9. Reporting and audit readiness
10. Real-time alerts and notifications
11. Policy management and trust center
12. Consent and preference management
13. Cookie and tracker management
14. Cross-border data transfer mechanism
15. Integration with existing systems
16. Customization and scalability
17. Dispute resolution services
18. Training and awareness
19. Support and expertise
20. Forward-thinking

Here’s an in-depth look at the 20 key features to consider when choosing a privacy management vendor. Each feature is essential to building a robust privacy program that is agile and responsive to the evolving privacy landscape.

Privacy expertise

A strong privacy management vendor provides more than just tools; they also provide thought leadership in data privacy and security. Look for vendors who can provide insights, demonstrating a deep understanding of privacy trends, regulatory changes, and security challenges. Their expertise should serve as a valuable resource, helping you stay ahead in a complex privacy environment.

Enterprise-grade automation

Manual processes are not enough for large-scale operations. Enterprise-grade automation ensures that privacy tasks—like data subject requests, data mapping, and risk assessments—are handled efficiently and accurately. Automation not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of human error, helping you maintain consistency and reliability across privacy functions.

Regulatory compliance coverage

As regulations expand globally, your privacy management vendor should support compliance with major laws and frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, and more. Their solution should be adaptable to new and emerging regulations, giving you peace of mind that your organization remains compliant across jurisdictions. Comprehensive regulatory coverage saves time and reduces the risk of non-compliance penalties.

Regulatory database

A vendor with a regulatory database provides easy access to up-to-date with over 137 global privacy laws, regulatory guidelines, and enforcement actions. This feature is invaluable in streamlining compliance, as it reduces the time needed to research requirements and helps you stay aligned with the latest global privacy standards.

Automated data subject request (DSR) management

Handling data subject requests, such as access, erasure, and portability, can be a significant administrative burden. Beyond the time and resources required, there’s an added risk: failing to fulfill data subject rights can lead to steep fines and even litigation. One of the largest fines in the EU to date—$10.2 million—was imposed on the Austrian Postal Service for failing to meet data subject rights. This highlights the importance of a streamlined, compliant approach to managing DSRs.

A vendor offering automated DSR management tools can make a critical difference. Automation reduces response times, ensuring that requests are handled efficiently and accurately, meeting the varied requirements across 50+ jurisdictions with DSR laws. This includes compliance with a range of request types, each with specific timeframes, such as:

• Right to access
• Right to rectification
• Right to objection
• Right to know
• Right to restriction
• Right to deletion

With automated DSR management, you safeguard against potential fines and legal repercussions and build trust with data subjects by upholding transparency obligations. This automation is crucial for scaling privacy operations, reducing administrative burdens, and allowing your team to focus on higher-value privacy initiatives.

Data mapping and inventory

Knowing where data resides and how it flows across your organization is foundational to effective privacy management. Vendors with strong data mapping and inventory capabilities provide comprehensive visibility into data flows and storage locations. Detailed data maps and inventory reporting empower you to maintain control over personal data and prepare for potential audits or compliance checks.

Risk assessments and DPIAs (Data Protection Impact Assessments)

To manage data privacy risks effectively, your privacy program must include thorough risk assessments and DPIAs. Look for vendors with tools to evaluate, categorize, and mitigate privacy risks associated with data processing activities. This feature not only supports compliance but also enhances your organization’s risk management capabilities.

Third-party vendor risk management

Third-party vendors who handle your data can introduce significant risk. A privacy management vendor should offer tools to assess and monitor third-party vendors, ensuring that their data handling practices align with your privacy standards. This feature reduces your exposure to potential data breaches and strengthens your overall security posture.

Reporting and audit readiness

Regular audits and stakeholder reporting are essential components of any privacy program. A robust vendor will provide detailed, customizable reports that demonstrate compliance and readiness for audits. This feature makes it easy to present insights to stakeholders, regulatory authorities, or internal audit teams, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Real-time alerts and notifications

Data breaches and regulatory changes require immediate action. Vendors with real-time alerts and notifications help you stay informed and respond swiftly. These alerts enable you to address potential incidents, legal updates, or compliance shifts promptly, reducing the risk of non-compliance and protecting your organization’s reputation.

Policy management and trust center

Centralized policy management helps keep privacy policies organized and up-to-date. Implementing robust process controls to safeguard sensitive data is crucial within vendor risk management frameworks. Vendors with a trust center or similar resource make it easy to share policy information with stakeholders, improving transparency and helping you demonstrate your organization’s commitment to privacy.

Consent and preference management

Managing user consent and preferences is critical to building trust. A vendor offering consent and preference management tools enables you to capture, track, and respect user choices, ensuring compliance with consent requirements and enhancing customer trust.

Cookie and tracker management

With privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and ePrivacy Directive, managing cookies and other trackers is essential. A robust cookie management solution from your vendor can automate cookie blocking, tracking categorization, and user consent, ensuring a compliant, privacy-first experience for website visitors.

Cross-border data transfer mechanism

Global data transfers are complex, especially in a regulated environment. Look for a vendor with solutions to support legal cross-border data transfers, allowing you to remain compliant while transferring data internationally.

Integration with existing systems

Privacy management is most effective when integrated with existing systems, such as CRM, ERP, and HR platforms. A vendor that offers seamless integration minimizes disruption to current workflows, enabling privacy measures to be part of your everyday operations. This integration ensures that privacy practices are consistently applied across all data systems.

Customization and scalability

As your organization evolves, so do your privacy needs. A vendor with customization and scalability options can adapt their solutions to your specific requirements. This flexibility ensures that your privacy management solution remains aligned with your organization’s growth, allowing you to address new challenges without switching vendors.

Dispute resolution services

Resolving privacy disputes efficiently is essential to maintaining trust and compliance. Vendors that offer or integrate with third party dispute resolution services enable your organization to handle complaints, questions, and disputes professionally, ensuring timely and fair resolution for data subjects.

Training and awareness

A comprehensive privacy management solution includes a strong focus on training and awareness. Look for vendors that offer privacy training resources or partnerships to support organization-wide education. Proper training helps embed a culture of privacy, ensuring that employees understand and uphold privacy practices.

Support and expertise

When challenges arise, having access to responsive support can make a world of difference. Look for vendors with a dedicated support team who are not only responsive but also well-versed in privacy management. Their guidance and expertise should be available when you need it most, ensuring you can navigate any complexities confidently.

Forward-thinking

The privacy landscape is constantly evolving, and so should your vendor. Choose a vendor with a clear vision for the future, including plans for technological advancements, enhanced features, and adaptability to emerging privacy laws. A forward-thinking vendor ensures that your privacy program remains resilient, agile, and future-proof.

Build a future-proof privacy program with the right vendor

Together, these 20 features create a powerful foundation for an effective privacy management solution. They not only address your organization’s current needs but also provide the flexibility, support, and innovation needed to keep pace with an ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

With the right vendor, you can strengthen your privacy program, build trust, and position your organization for ongoing privacy success.

Ready to learn more about TrustArc’s privacy management features?

TrustArc offers a suite of powerful tools designed to simplify and elevate your privacy management efforts. Here’s a look at some of the key features that can help your organization streamline compliance, reduce risk, and build trust with data subjects:

Automated compliance management

TrustArc’s automated compliance platform, PrivacyCentral, is designed to manage complex and constantly evolving compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Continuously updated by privacy experts, it uses controls-based frameworks to identify commonalities across laws, regulations, and standards, eliminating 30% or more of duplicate work and reducing the time and effort required to stay compliant.

Automated DSR fulfillment

With Individual Rights Manager, TrustArc automates the entire data subject request (DSR) fulfillment process, enabling rapid scaling across mobile, web, and app environments according to jurisdictional requirements. Built-in privacy controls, monitored by legal experts, help maintain compliance with changing regulations—even if your team has limited privacy expertise—while documenting compliance and building user trust.

Comprehensive research database

Nymity Research offers a vast, continuously updated database of privacy and regulatory guidance drawn from over 25 years of legal expertise. Paired with our NymityAI co-pilot, this resource significantly reduces the time you spend on privacy research, allowing your team to focus on proactive compliance while achieving faster, cost-effective results.

Data mapping and risk analysis

TrustArc’s Data Mapping and Risk Manager streamlines privacy operations through automated data flow mapping, risk analysis, and remediation. This tool provides quick access to on-demand compliance reports and audit trails, helping you save time while effectively managing privacy risks.

Global cookie consent management

TrustArc’s Cookie Consent Manager provides a privacy-first, compliant experience for users worldwide with an intuitive, customizable cookie banner. Featuring quick and automated setup, tracker scans, cookie blocking, and categorization, it aligns with global privacy laws and standards to simplify your cookie compliance.

Centralized consent and preference management

With TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager, you can centralize customer preferences across your brands and digital experiences. This feature provides customizable privacy experiences that are enforced across all marketing and vendor ecosystems, including applications, domains, mobile apps, and connected TV.

Trust Center for transparency and compliance

TrustArc’s Trust Center enables you to build trust, accelerate sales, and achieve compliance with a no-code hub for all privacy, security, legal, and compliance documents. It serves as a centralized resource for disclosures, policies, and more, providing confidence and transparency to stakeholders.

Automated assessment management

Assessment Manager simplifies data privacy and vendor assessments, consolidating processes with customizable, automated tools to suit your specific needs. This feature streamlines privacy and vendor assessments, helping you maintain efficiency and consistency.

These TrustArc features provide your organization with the flexibility, automation, and expert support needed to navigate privacy management with confidence and ease. With TrustArc, you’re not just meeting compliance requirements—you’re building a privacy program that’s resilient, scalable, and ready for the future.