Data

Zoho Books and the GDPR: AI training, data location and DPA

Premium: Trains on your data, with no documented way to stop it. EU hosting not documented · DPA on request.

Vendor: Zoho Corporation GmbHDocuments, HR and financeChecked on How we check

Verdict

Is Zoho Books GDPR compliant?

Premium

Business

Trains on your data, with no documented way to stop it

EU hosting not documented · DPA on request

Price: €60 / mo

No tool is GDPR compliant on its own: that depends on how your business uses it. This page shows the vendor's side, from its own pages. It is not legal advice.

Training

Does Zoho Books train on your data?

Trains on your data by default?

Checked

Trains on your data, with no documented way to stop it.

Yes. Zoho says it uses anonymised service data to improve algorithm accuracy and uses your business data to build models tailored to your company.

Vendor's wording: “wir verwenden Ihre Unternehmensdaten dazu, maßgeschneiderte Modelle für Ihr Unternehmen zu entwickeln”

Source: zoho.comDatenschutzrichtlinie, 'Automatisierung und künstliche Intelligenz'Checked on

Location

Where does Zoho Books store your data?

Where data is stored by default

Checked

Assigned by country: the Terms say the cloud facility serving you depends on your region or country at sign-up, taken from your IP address. Zoho may migrate your account and may keep a local copy in your country.

Vendor's wording: “Der Standort der Cloud-Anlage, die für Sie als Server dient, hängt von der Zuordnung zwischen Ihrer Region bzw. Ihrem Land”

Source: zoho.comServicebedingungen, clause on the location of the cloud facilityChecked on

Contract

Does Zoho Books sign a data processing agreement?

Data processing agreement (DPA)

Checked

DPA on request.

Yes, on request. Zoho invites customers to ask for a GDPR-compliant data processing addendum.

Vendor's wording: “einen DSGVO-konformen Zusatz zur Datenverarbeitung anfordern”

Source: zoho.comDatenschutzrichtlinie, section 'Sie können uns jederzeit kontaktieren'Checked on

Processors

Who else handles Zoho Books data?

EU–US Data Privacy Framework

Checked

Not listed.

No listing found for search term 'Zoho'

Source: dataprivacyframework.govSearch 'Zoho' returned 'Query returned no results'Checked on

Retention

How long does Zoho Books keep your data?

How long data is kept

Checked

Kept as long as needed for the purposes in the policy, and longer for legal, tax, accounting or claim reasons; service data can be exported or deleted on request.

Vendor's wording: “Wir behalten uns vor, Ihre personenbezogenen Informationen so lange zu speichern, wie dies im Rahmen der in dieser Datenschutzrichtlinie beschriebenen Zwecke erforderlich ist.”

Source: zoho.comDatenschutzrichtlinie, 'Aufbewahrung von Informationen'Checked on

Security

Which certifications and admin controls does Zoho Books have?

Security certifications

Checked

Compliance page names for Zoho cloud services: ISO/IEC 27001, 27701, 27017, 27018, 9001 and 22301; ISO 20000-1 for data-centre operations; SOC 2 Type 2; SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 1 Audit Trail (Books named); GoBD (Books); PCI DSS SAQ-D self-assessment.

Vendor's wording: “Zoho is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant.”

Source: zoho.comCompliance at Zoho, Certifications listChecked on

Admin controls for AI

Checked

Partly. Zoho says admins are given the option to turn off some sub-processors (it lists AI service providers as a category). Which AI providers can be switched off, and any single AI-off switch, were not readable.

Vendor's wording: “Some of the sub-processors will be enabled by default, and the admin will be given the option to turn it off”

Source: zoho.comSub-processor page, closing noteChecked on

Price

What does Zoho Books cost?

Price, as shown in Germany

Checked

€60 / mo.

€60 per company per month, or €50 per company per month with annual billing, on the Premium plan. VAT is not shown.

Vendor's wording: “60€ 50€ Preis/Unternehmen/Monat Preis/Unternehmen/Monat (jährliche Abrechnung)”

Source: zoho.comPreise page, Premium plan blockChecked on

The vendor doesn't say: switch-off, EU hosting, sub-processors.

Alternatives

Zoho Books alternatives that don't train on your data

Other documents, hr and finance tools whose business plan doesn't train on your data and includes a DPA.

The five marks, in order: No AI training · EU hosting · DPA · Sub-processors listed · DPF or EU vendor. ✓ meets it, ✕ doesn't, – partly, ? not stated.

Tool · PlanVerdictYour five rules
  • iLovePDF

    Premium · €5 / mo

    Doesn't train on your dataEU hosting available · DPA on request

    ✓✓✓✓✓

  • Pleo

    Build · €14 / user / mo

    Says it doesn't train on your dataData in the EU by default · DPA in the terms

    ✓✓✓✓✓

  • Teamtailor

    subscription by quote · Quote only

    Doesn't train on your dataEU hosting available · DPA in the terms

    ✓✓✓✓✓

  • Tellent Recruitee

    Advance · See details

    Doesn't train on your dataEU hosting available · DPA in the terms

    ✓✓✓✓✓

  • Candis

    Basis · From €389 / mo

    Doesn't train on your dataNo EU hosting · DPA in the terms

    ✓✕✓✓✓

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