Compliance is how teams meet regulatory and security standards without slowing product delivery. SHAPE helps organizations operationalize GDPR, SOC 2, and HIPAA requirements by translating obligations into engineering controls, measurable processes, and audit-ready evidence—so customers trust your product and stakeholders can ship confidently.

Compliance is an operating system: requirements → controls → evidence → continuous monitoring.

Compliance (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA): Meeting Regulatory and Security Standards

Compliance overview: what SHAPE delivers

SHAPE delivers compliance as a practical engagement built around a repeatable outcome: meeting regulatory and security standards with controls your team can operate every day—not a one-time scramble before an audit.

Typical deliverables

• Compliance assessment: scope, data classification, gap analysis (GDPR/SOC 2/HIPAA).
• Controls library: security, privacy, and operational controls mapped to requirements.
• Evidence pack: audit-ready artifacts (policies, procedures, logs, screenshots, system descriptions).
• Risk register: prioritized risks, mitigations, and owners.
• Data map: where sensitive data lives, how it moves, and how it’s protected.
• Monitoring + runbooks: alerts and response workflows so compliance stays true after launch.

Practical rule: If you can’t show your controls and reproduce evidence on demand, you don’t have compliance—you have assumptions.

Related services (internal links)

Compliance gets stronger when governance and monitoring are built into delivery. Teams commonly pair compliance work with:

• AI regulatory compliance (GDPR, AI Act, HIPAA) for regulated AI and sensitive-data workflows.
• Model governance & lifecycle management when compliance requires traceability, approvals, and auditable change control.
• DevOps, CI/CD pipelines to enforce controls automatically (deployment gates, policy checks, audit trails).
• Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) to design secure identity, networking, encryption, and logging.
• Privacy-preserving AI when privacy and data minimization are central to meeting regulatory and security standards.

What is compliance (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA)?

Compliance is the discipline of aligning your product, processes, and operations with required regulatory and security standards. In practice, it means turning written requirements into real controls—access rules, encryption, incident response, logging, and evidence retention—that consistently work.

GDPR compliance (privacy + data protection)

GDPR applies when you process personal data. Meeting regulatory and security standards under GDPR typically includes:

• Lawful basis and purpose limitation
• Data minimization and retention controls
• Security of processing: access control, encryption, audit logs
• Rights workflows (where applicable): access, deletion, correction

SOC 2 compliance (trust services criteria)

SOC 2 focuses on security and operational reliability (and, depending on scope, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy). A SOC 2-aligned program for meeting regulatory and security standards often includes:

• Security policies and formalized procedures
• Access governance (least privilege, reviews, offboarding)
• Change management (approvals, CI/CD, evidence)
• Incident response and business continuity practices

HIPAA compliance (PHI safeguards)

HIPAA applies when your product touches protected health information (PHI). Meeting regulatory and security standards in healthcare commonly includes:

• Administrative safeguards: policies, training, role controls
• Technical safeguards: access control, audit controls, transmission security
• Operational safeguards: logging, retention, vendor management

Compliance is not a document. It’s the ability to operate controls and produce evidence—reliably.

Common requirements and evidence (what auditors and customers ask for)

Whether you’re pursuing GDPR compliance, SOC 2 compliance, or HIPAA compliance, the repeatable theme is the same: meeting regulatory and security standards requires controls and evidence that proves those controls are in place.

Security controls (baseline across most programs)

• Identity & access management: SSO/MFA, least privilege, periodic access reviews
• Encryption: in transit (TLS) and at rest (managed keys where appropriate)
• Logging & monitoring: audit logs, alerts, incident triage workflows
• Vulnerability management: patching, dependency hygiene, remediation tracking
• Secure SDLC: code review, deployment controls, environment separation

Privacy controls (GDPR-heavy, but broadly useful)

• Data mapping: systems, fields, and flows for personal data
• Retention: time-bound storage and deletion mechanisms
• Minimization: reduce sensitive fields collected and logged
• Third-party risk: vendor assessments and DPAs/BAAs where relevant

Evidence examples (what “proof” looks like)

• Policies: security, incident response, access control, retention
• System descriptions: architecture diagrams, data flows, environments
• Logs and reports: access reviews, change approvals, monitoring alerts
• Tickets and approvals: evidence that processes are followed

/* Compliance evidence principle:
   Controls are only real if they generate evidence continuously.
   Design controls so proof is produced as a byproduct of normal operations. */

How SHAPE runs compliance programs (without stalling delivery)

SHAPE operationalizes compliance through a repeatable loop: scope → implement controls → collect evidence → monitor continuously. This is how teams keep meeting regulatory and security standards while still shipping product.

1) Scope the system and define what “in” means

• Identify products, environments, vendors, and teams in scope
• Classify sensitive data (PII/PHI) and map key flows
• Define required standards (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA) and audit targets

2) Translate requirements into engineering controls

We convert ambiguous obligations into measurable controls: access rules, logging requirements, deployment approvals, retention policies, and incident response procedures.

3) Build the evidence layer (so audits are repeatable)

Compliance becomes sustainable when evidence is collected continuously. We help teams set up evidence capture from systems that already exist (CI/CD, cloud logs, ticketing workflows)—reducing manual work.

4) Monitor and maintain (so controls remain true)

Controls drift when systems change. We implement monitoring and review cadences to ensure you keep meeting regulatory and security standards across releases.

5) Prepare for audits and customer security reviews

We package your evidence into a clear narrative: what controls exist, how they work, and how you prove them—reducing audit-time stress and accelerating procurement cycles.

Use case explanations

1) You need SOC 2 to close deals (and procurement is blocking you)

We implement the controls and evidence needed for SOC 2 readiness, focusing on practical operationalization: access reviews, change management, incident response, and audit logs—so you can keep meeting regulatory and security standards while sales cycles move forward.

2) You process personal data and need GDPR compliance quickly

We build a GDPR-aligned privacy foundation: data mapping, retention rules, minimization, and security-of-processing controls—then produce repeatable evidence and workflows so compliance is durable.

3) You’re entering healthcare and need HIPAA safeguards

We design and implement safeguards around PHI, including access controls, audit logging, secure transmission, and operational policies—so your product can meet regulatory and security standards in healthcare contexts.

4) Your engineering team is shipping fast—but compliance is “manual”

We embed compliance into delivery using DevOps, CI/CD pipelines patterns: automated checks, controlled promotions, and evidence collection—reducing friction and risk.

5) You have controls on paper, but you can’t prove them

This is the most common audit failure mode. We backfill the evidence layer and implement monitoring so future proof is automatic—turning compliance into an operating discipline.

Step-by-step tutorial: operationalize compliance (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA)

This playbook shows a practical way to keep meeting regulatory and security standards without turning compliance into a quarterly fire drill.

1. Step 1: Define scope and data sensitivity

   List in-scope systems, environments, vendors, and sensitive data types (PII/PHI). Decide which standards apply: GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA.

2. Step 2: Map data flows (the compliance “source map”)

   Create a data map: collection points, storage, processing, sharing, and logging. This is foundational to compliance and meeting regulatory and security standards.

3. Step 3: Build a controls matrix (requirements → controls → evidence)

   For each requirement, define the control and the evidence you will produce (logs, screenshots, approvals, reports). Ensure every control has an owner.

4. Step 4: Implement identity and access controls

   Enforce least privilege, MFA/SSO where possible, and periodic access reviews. Add audit logs for access changes.

5. Step 5: Implement secure SDLC and change control

   Use code review, environment separation, approvals, and deployment evidence—often via DevOps, CI/CD pipelines.

6. Step 6: Build monitoring, incident response, and runbooks

   Define what triggers an incident, who responds, and how evidence is captured. Monitor security and operational signals so compliance stays true after launch.

7. Step 7: Establish retention and privacy workflows

   Implement retention limits, deletion processes, and privacy-safe logging practices. This supports GDPR compliance and reduces audit risk broadly.

8. Step 8: Run an internal “mini-audit”

   Test whether you can produce evidence on demand. Fix gaps in logs, documentation, and process adherence before a customer or auditor finds them.

9. Step 9: Make it repeatable (monthly reviews + continuous evidence)

   Set a cadence: access review, incident review, vendor review, and change-control checks. Compliance is sustained by repetition—not heroics.

Practical tip: The fastest path to durable compliance is designing controls so evidence is produced automatically as work happens.