Developing GDPR Data Processing content

The IBM Data Model for Energy and Utilities terms in Information Governance Catalog (IGC) has specific support for Data Processing Purpose Type and Data Processing Activity Types. These types are important in relation to GDPR.

Data Processing Purpose Type
GDPR specifies that a data subject has to explicitly consent to the purposes of the data processing. DMEU content has a number of Data Processing Purpose Types populated, for example: Human Resource Management. These terms all have definitions and this list in particular is something that an organization implementing GDPR may need to add to or customize for their particular data processing purposes, and also to reflect how granular they want to go.
Data Processing Activity Type
GDPR states that the type of the processing activity is important, and that specific types of activity need to be handled differently, for example: transfer. The DMEU has a number of the Data Processing Activity Type populated, for example: Erasure. These terms all have definitions and this list in particular is considered to be a relatively complete list.

Navigating and viewing the types

  1. Using the search facility of IGC, enter the name Data Processing Purpose Type or Data Processing Activity Type.
  2. Under the tab associated terms, the has types section will show the types of the Purpose or Activity.
  3. Hover over the type hyperlink to view the description, or click through to see more information.

Adding new types or a sub hierarchy of types

The list of Data Processing Purpose Type or Data Processing Activity Type can be customized by the implementing Organization. To add a new type of Data Processing Purpose Type for example, navigate to the Data Processing Purpose Type (see prior section), verify that the type is not already in the list, and if not, follow the procedure below:
  1. Navigate to an existing type and take note of the values for Parent category and is a type of.
  2. From the menu, select Glossary > Create > Term
  3. Name the term, set the parent category to the same as the term in step 1 above, and give it a short description.
  4. Save and edit details.
  5. Enter a value for is a type of.

    To add a new type of Data Processing Purpose Type:

    • Set is a type of to Data Processing Purpose Type.
      Note: This will add the new type as a direct subtype of Data Processing Purpose Type. If a hierarchy of Processing Purpose types is required then see the next step.

    To create a hierarchy of Data Processing Purpose Types, for example, sub types of Human Resource Management:

    • Set is a type of to be the start of the new hierarchy, in this case Human Resource Management.
      Note: It is possible to create further deeper sub hierarchies if required.
  6. Navigate to and check that the updated listing of types is as expected.
Note: The terms named Data Processing Purpose Type and Data Processing Activity Type are reserved and should not have the names of the terms changed; the sub terms names can be changed for example for translation purposes.