Fact · Voice privacy and security
Under Article 42 of the GDPR, certification is voluntary, and a certification does not reduce the responsibility of the controller or the processor for compliance with the regulation.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“The certification shall be voluntary and available via a process that is transparent. A certification pursuant to this Article does not reduce the responsibility of the controller or the processor for compliance with this Regulation”
Art. 42 GDPR: Certification, gdpr-info.eu (text of Regulation (EU) 2016/679), 2016, Article 42(3) and 42(7).
Open the original- What it measures
- Article 42 sets up data protection certification mechanisms, seals and marks. A certificate is not a general approval of a product, and the controller stays responsible either way.
- What it does not show
- The text is an English reproduction on a reference site. Certificates issued under the regulation are rare and are granted by specific bodies, so the absence of a seal is not itself a finding of non-compliance.