Lead Auditor
ISO 27701 Lead Auditor
2026 edition
Self-paced PECB training delivered via myPECB.
Global training partner Aegentra is an official PECB authorised training partner and an official CompTIA partner.
Plan and conduct ISO/IEC 27701 audits — internal, supplier, and certification. Covers PIMS scope verification, evidence gathering for PII controls, integration with ISO 27001 audits, and reporting. Concludes with the official PECB certifying exam.
- Typical study effort
- 30–40 hours
- CPD credits
- 31
- Course languages
- English
Who it is for
- Audit professionals adding privacy scope
- DPOs expanding into audit capability
- Consultants offering PIMS audit services
What you will learn
- Plan and lead an ISO/IEC 27701 audit programme — internal, supplier, or third-party.
- Audit privacy-specific controls in both controller and processor contexts.
- Run combined ISMS / PIMS audits efficiently.
- Classify privacy nonconformities and write defensible findings.
- Handle audit disputes around lawful basis, consent, and cross-border transfers.
Course content
Module 1 — Foundations of privacy auditing
- ISO 19011 principles applied to PIMS
- Auditor competence for privacy
- Auditing a standalone PIMS or a combined ISMS / PIMS
- Ethics and impartiality
Module 2 — Planning the PIMS audit
- PII inventory verification
- Controller vs. processor scope
- Stage 1 documentation review
- Risk-based audit planning for privacy
Module 3 — Conducting the audit
- Auditing lawful basis and consent
- Auditing data subject rights handling
- Auditing cross-border transfers
- Evidence sampling for personal data
Module 4 — Closing and reporting
- Classifying privacy nonconformities
- Writing the audit report
- Closing meeting and presentation
- Corrective action verification
Module 5 — Special audit situations
- Auditing third-party processors
- Combined ISMS / PIMS audits
- Remote audits and sampling
- Dispute resolution on consent and lawful basis
Module 6 — Certification body practice and exam prep
- Working under a certification body
- Surveillance and recertification audits
- Ethics and impartiality
- Exam strategy and case studies
Prerequisites
- PECB requires foundational knowledge of information security and privacy, together with a thorough understanding of audit principles.
The exam
- Format
- Open-book, multiple-choice — stand-alone and scenario-based questions
- Duration
- 3 hours
- Questions
- 80 multiple-choice questions across 7 competency domains — fundamental principles and concepts of a PIMS, PIMS requirements, fundamental audit concepts and principles, preparing an ISO/IEC 27701 audit, conducting the audit, closing the audit, and managing an audit programme
- Pass mark
- 70%
What is included
Course materials
- PECB ISO/IEC 27701 Lead Auditor slide deck (digital)
- 12 months access via myPECB
- Privacy-audit scenario library and worked-finding examples
- ISO 19011 audit-principles reference set
Exam package
- Official PECB Lead Auditor exam voucher
- Three-hour open-book exam, remotely proctored
- Two exam attempts (initial + one free resit)
- PECB Auditor / Lead Auditor credential on pass