When businesses use Datadog's monitoring platform, Datadog is the processor and the business is the controller — meaning the business is legally responsible for ensuring the data it sends to Datadog is lawfully collected and processed.
This analysis describes what Datadog's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This clause clarifies the legal relationship between Datadog and its customers regarding data handling obligations, designating Datadog as a processor rather than controller. The allocation establishes that customers retain controller obligations, including obtaining lawful bases for data transfer and ensuring compliance with applicable data protection regulations.
If your employer or a company you use sends your personal data to Datadog's monitoring platform, that company — not Datadog — is primarily responsible under GDPR for ensuring your data is handled lawfully, meaning your rights requests should be directed to that company first.
How other platforms handle this
When our business customers use certain Services, we generally process and store limited personal information on their behalf as a data processor. For certain products such as Docusign's Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) and Identity products, we may act as a processor and as a controller in certa...
This Privacy Policy does not apply where Anthropic acts as a data processor and processes personal data on behalf of commercial customers using Anthropic's Commercial Services – for example, your employer has provisioned you a Claude for Work account, or you're using an app that is powered on the ba...
We collect information about you when you shop in our stores, including through store cameras, loyalty programs, payment processing systems, and other in-store technologies. This information is used to improve store operations, loss prevention, and marketing.
Monitoring
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"When Datadog processes personal data in the context of providing its Services to customers, Datadog acts as a data processor on behalf of its customers, who are the data controllers. In such cases, the processing of personal data is governed by the agreement between Datadog and the customer, including the Data Processing Addendum. Customers are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights and consents to provide personal data to Datadog for processing.— Excerpt from Datadog's Datadog Privacy Policy
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: The controller/processor distinction is governed by GDPR Art. 4(7) (controller definition) and Art. 4(8) (processor definition); GDPR Art. 28 (mandatory processor contract terms including sub-processor obligations, audit rights, deletion on termination, and instructions-only processing); GDPR Art. 82 (joint and several liability for controller and processor). The DPA referenced but not reproduced in this policy is the operative legal instrument. Enforcement: EU/EEA DPAs with jurisdiction over the data controller (typically the enterprise customer).
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This clause clarifies the legal relationship between Datadog and its customers regarding data handling obligations, designating Datadog as a processor rather than controller. The allocation establishes that customers retain controller obligations, including obtaining lawful bases for data transfer and ensuring compliance with applicable data protection regulations.
If your employer or a company you use sends your personal data to Datadog's monitoring platform, that company — not Datadog — is primarily responsible under GDPR for ensuring your data is handled lawfully, meaning your rights requests should be directed to that company first.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Datadog.