§ DORA · GDPR COMPARISON

DORA vs GDPR: Where They Overlap and Conflict

5 overlaps, 2 conflicts and 2 gaps mapped between DORA and GDPR in the Fontvera regulatory corpus.

Summary

DORA and GDPR both apply across European business activity, but they were drafted at different times with different policy goals. This page summarises every article-level crossref between the two in the Fontvera corpus.

5 overlaps mean the same conduct triggers obligations in both regimes — design controls once, document twice. 2 conflicts mean the two regulations push in opposite directions on a specific question. 2 gaps mean one regulation leaves something on a topic the other addresses.

Who this applies to
Compliance teams who need to map a single control framework onto both DORA and GDPR.
Compliance deadline
§ Detail

In depth

Summary statistics

Overlaps: 5 · Conflicts: 2 · Gaps: 2

9 article-level crossrefs catalogued between DORA and GDPR from the Fontvera EU regulatory corpus. Article numbers are verbatim from the underlying obligation_crossrefs table; descriptions are extracted, not paraphrased.

All crossrefs between these regulations

Article (A)Article (B)TypeSeverityDescription
DORA Art 10GDPR Art 5overlapmedium[entity affected: Financial entities] Both regulations require entities to implement technical and organizational measures to detect anomalies and ensure security of processing, specifically protectin
DORA Art 12GDPR Art 32overlapmedium[entity affected: Financial entities] DORA requires backup policies and restoration procedures for ICT assets, which overlaps with GDPR's requirement for the ability to restore availability and access
DORA Art 17GDPR Art 33overlapmedium[entity affected: Financial entities] Both regulations mandate the recording and classification of incidents; DORA focuses on ICT incidents while GDPR focuses on personal data breaches, but both requi
DORA Art 14GDPR Art 34overlapmedium[entity affected: Financial entities] Both regulations require communication plans for incidents; DORA mandates crisis communication for ICT incidents to stakeholders, while GDPR requires notification
DORA Art 13GDPR Art 24overlaplow[entity affected: Financial entities] Both regulations require entities to demonstrate compliance and maintain records of their risk management and security measures, with DORA focusing on ICT resilie
DORA Art 18GDPR Art 33conflicthigh[entity affected: Financial entities] DORA requires reporting of major ICT incidents to competent authorities based on specific criteria, while GDPR requires notification of personal data breaches to
DORA Art 11GDPR Art 17conflictmedium[entity affected: Financial entities] DORA requires maintaining records and backups for business continuity and audit trails, which may conflict with GDPR's right to erasure if personal data is retain
DORA Art ?GDPR Art ?gapmedium[entity affected: ICT Third-Party Service Providers] While DORA addresses outsourcing and GDPR addresses processors, there is a gap in clear joint liability frameworks for incidents caused by third-pa
DORA Art ?GDPR Art ?gaphigh[entity affected: Financial entities] Neither regulation clearly defines the protocol for handling incidents that are both major ICT disruptions under DORA and personal data breaches under GDPR, poten

Conflicts explained

The 2 article-level conflicts between DORA and GDPR mean a control that satisfies one can pull the wrong way on the other:

Which regulation takes precedence

EU law does not lay down a universal precedence rule between DORA and GDPR. In practice three resolution approaches apply: lex specialis (the more specific provision wins when both purport to govern the same conduct); regulator guidance (EDPB, EBA, ESMA and the AI Office have all issued joint readings on overlapping articles — check the most recent applicable opinion); and document the choice (when the regulations leave the call to the controller, the audit defence is your written reasoning, not the regulator's silence). Where the corpus surfaces a conflict rather than an overlap, treat that as an escalation path to legal — not a control-design question.

What this means for your compliance team

Treat the 5 overlaps as design opportunities — one control, two regulatory anchors. Treat the 2 conflicts as escalation paths to legal: the regulations themselves don't resolve them, you do, and you document the reasoning. The 2 gaps point at scenarios where one regulation is silent while the other speaks — assume the regulator who has the explicit rule will win.

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§ What Fontvera found

Documents in our corpus

imy SE Fetched 2026-05
§ Cross-references

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