GDPR vs Cyber Resilience Act
Understand the overlap, differences, and compliance synergy between GDPR and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
Core Definition
While GDPR focuses heavily on data privacy regulation principles, the Cyber Resilience Act specifically targets the cybersecurity of products with digital elements. Compliance with GDPR provides a strong foundation, but does not completely satisfy CRA requirements. You will still need to ensure CRA-specific mandates like SBOM generation, secure by default configurations, and 24-hour vulnerability reporting to ENISA.
Key Compliance Steps for GDPR
- Map Existing Controls: Identify which GDPR controls map directly to CRA Annex I requirements (e.g., risk assessments and access control).
- Identify CRA Gaps: The CRA has strict product-centric requirements (like 5-year security updates and SBOMs) that GDPR might not explicitly mandate.
- Combine Documentation: Leverage your GDPR evidence as part of the CRA Technical Documentation package to ease compliance efforts.
How This Plays Out in Practice
Both regulations require breach-relevant notification processes and 'security by design' thinking, so incident-response playbooks can largely be shared.
What to Watch For
GDPR protects personal data specifically; CRA protects the product's overall cybersecurity even where no personal data is involved, like an industrial sensor with no user accounts.
Assess Your CRA Readiness
Evaluate your product's Cyber Resilience Act readiness using our interactive tool. Find exactly which of the 22 security requirements apply directly to GDPR.