Business Partner

An external entity with which your organization has a formal relationship for mutual business purposes, such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, or ongoing commercial relationships involving data sharing. In privacy contexts, business partners matter because sharing personal data with them requires appropriate legal basis, transparency, and often contractual protections. Unlike service providers who process data on your behalf, business partners typically act as independent controllers for data shared with them, making their own decisions about data use. This distinction affects compliance obligations—you may need consent for certain sharing, must disclose business partner relationships in privacy notices, and should establish contractual terms governing data handling. CCPA creates a specific 'contractor' category that's distinct from both service providers and third parties, recognizing business partner relationships where some shared use occurs.