• What is exchanged and why

  A table for information each way, how it is transferred and how long each keeps it.

• Each party decides for itself

  Neither acts on the other's instructions, each is responsible for its own handling, and each uses information only for the agreed purposes.

• Telling people and being entitled to share

  Each tells its own people about the sharing and confirms it is entitled to share what it provides, stopping if it ceases to be.

• Security, access and others involved

  Agreed measures and transfer means, access for those who need it, and objection rights before anyone else is involved.

• Requests, incidents and ending

  Passing on individuals' requests, telling each other of incidents, who says what publicly, records, and deleting or returning information at the end.

A data protection agreement is for two parties who exchange personal information, or give each other access to it, and each decides for its own purposes what to do with what it receives. It records what is exchanged and why, that each is responsible for its own handling, agreed purposes, telling people what is happening and each party's entitlement to share.

This blank form is completed by hand and signed by both parties. It does not make either business compliant with any privacy or data-protection law, and says neither relies on it as advice. It also covers security, who has access, others involved, where information is held, requests from individuals, incidents, public statements, records and deletion.

Not sure? Talk to an attorney about your situation first.

These are separate documents, for different jobs.

• Data-processing agreementsSet how another business processes personal data for you.View document
• Privacy policiesExplain how you collect and use people's personal data.View document
• Joint-venture agreementsSet out how two businesses work together on a venture.View document
• Cybersecurity legal supportLegal help with security obligations and incidents.View document

• A retailer and a delivery partner exchange customer details
• Two firms collaborating on a project share contact data
• A partner agrees how it will report an incident

• Software development agreementsSet the terms for building software for a client.View document
• SaaS agreementsSet the terms customers use your software service on.View document
• Software licensing agreementsSet the terms others can use your software on.View document
• Website terms and conditionsThe rules visitors agree to when using your website.View document