---
title: "Records of processing activities (ROPA)"
description: "The GDPR Article 30 record of each processing activity: purposes, categories of data and people, recipients, transfers, retention and security."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/records-of-processing-activities-ropa
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Records of processing activities (ROPA)

The GDPR Article 30 record of each processing activity: purposes, categories of data and people, recipients, transfers, retention and security [1]. For AI it is best generated per processing moment from the registry and data cards, so it does not go stale.

- Developed in: [ch. 19, Records of processing](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/privacy-and-ai#records-of-processing)
- Chapters: [ch. 19, Privacy & AI](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/privacy-and-ai)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-records-of-processing-activities-ropa

## Sources

[1] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) (Arts. 4(1), 4(5), 4(7), 4(8), 4(12), 4(14), 5, 6, 9, 12(3), 22, 25, 28(2) and 28(4), 30, 33, 35; Recital 26). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2016-04-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng (verified: primary)