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Identification of legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements

13/09/2025

Author: Stuart Barker | ISO 27001 Expert and Thought Leader

ISO 27001 Identification of legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements is about making sure an organisation follows all the rules and agreements that apply to its information. Think of it as a checklist to ensure you’re not breaking any laws or promises when handling data.

Examples

  • Privacy Laws: A company must follow laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when it handles people’s personal information. This means it has to protect the data and get permission to use it.
  • Industry Rules: A bank has to follow rules set by the financial industry that say how it must protect customer money and information.
  • Contracts: A business has a written agreement with a client to keep their project details secret. This business must have a way to make sure only the right people can see those details.

Context

Following this control helps a company avoid trouble. If a company doesn’t follow the rules, it could get finedsued, or lose business. For example, a hospital must keep patient records private by law. If it doesn’t, it could face a big penalty. This control helps businesses stay in business by showing they can be trusted with important information.

Relevant ISO 27001 Controls

The following controls from the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standard are related to the Identification of legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements:

About the author

Stuart Barker is an information security practitioner of over 30 years. He holds an MSc in Software and Systems Security and an undergraduate degree in Software Engineering. He is an ISO 27001 expert and thought leader holding both ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor qualifications. In 2010 he started his first cyber security consulting business that he sold in 2018. He worked for over a decade for GE, leading a data governance team across Europe and since then has gone on to deliver hundreds of client engagements and audits.

He regularly mentors and trains professionals on information security and runs a successful ISO 27001 YouTube channel where he shows people how they can implement ISO 27001 themselves. He is passionate that knowledge should not be hoarded and brought to market the first of its kind online ISO 27001 store for all the tools and templates people need when they want to do it themselves.

In his personal life he is an active and a hobbyist kickboxer.

His specialisms are ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and his niche is start up and early stage business.