ISO 27018 (Cloud PII Protection)
ISO 27018 is a narrower, more specific cousin of ISO 27001. Where 27001 covers information security management broadly, 27018 is a code of practice specifically for protecting personally identifiable information (PII) that's processed in public cloud environments, built as an extension to the 27002 control set. It's aimed squarely at the question: when a cloud provider is processing someone else's customer data on their behalf, what commitments should they be making about how that data is handled, who can access it, and what happens to it?
That framing matters. 27018 is most directly relevant to organizations acting as a cloud service provider or PII processor — SaaS vendors, cloud platforms, anyone storing or processing personal data on behalf of customers who are themselves accountable for that data under GDPR, CCPA, or similar laws. If you're a customer evaluating a cloud vendor, 27018 is one of the things worth asking whether they've aligned to, because it signals they've thought seriously about consent, data minimization, breach notification, and not using customer data for their own advertising or marketing without permission.
Who needs this
Cloud and SaaS providers who handle customer personal data and want a credible, internationally recognized way to demonstrate that to enterprise customers and their legal teams — particularly when selling into regulated industries or into markets with strict data protection law. It's also relevant if you're building a broader privacy or security program and want 27018's specific cloud-PII controls layered onto an existing ISO 27001 base rather than inventing cloud privacy practices from nothing.
How I'd approach it
I'd start by mapping exactly what personal data flows through your systems, where it's stored, who can touch it, and under what legal basis — because 27018 only means something once that's accurate. From there it's gap analysis against the specific 27018 controls (consent handling, purpose limitation, sub-processor transparency, breach notification, data return and deletion on contract end), and a remediation plan that's honest about what's a quick policy fix versus what requires actual engineering work in how your systems handle data. I'd rather tell you a control genuinely isn't met yet than help you write around it.
If customers or prospects are asking how you protect their users' personal data in your cloud environment, let's talk about getting you to a defensible answer.