Running HighLevel for EU Clients: What GDPR Actually Asks of Your Agency

You land your first client in Germany, France or the Netherlands. They're excited about the funnels and the automations. Then their accountant asks: "Is this GDPR compliant? Who has our customer data, and where is it stored?" If you can't answer that clearly, the deal slows down.

The good news is that GDPR doesn't ask agencies to become lawyers. It asks you to know your role, have the right paperwork in place and set up the platform so consent and data requests are handled properly. This guide covers what that looks like when you run European clients on HighLevel.

Disclosure: I'm a HighLevel affiliate. Links to HighLevel in this post are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. This post is general information, not legal advice. Check your specific situation with a qualified data protection advisor.

TLDR

• Your client is usually the controller. Your agency is usually a processor acting for them, and HighLevel is a sub-processor.
• HighLevel's data processing addendum includes Standard Contractual Clauses, and HighLevel Inc is actively certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Its infrastructure is in the United States.
• Marketing emails and texts to people in the EU generally need consent. Record it with consent checkboxes and a legal-basis field.
• HighLevel funnels and websites have a built-in cookie consent banner that can block non-essential cookies until a visitor agrees.
• Put a data processing agreement between you and every EU client. GDPR Article 28 requires one.

Controller or Processor: Who Is Who?

GDPR splits responsibility between two roles:

• The controller decides why and how personal data is used. That's your client: it's their customers, their leads and their marketing.
• The processor handles personal data on the controller's behalf. That's your agency when you run campaigns, build automations or manage the CRM for the client.

HighLevel describes the same split in its GDPR help article: the customer is the controller and HighLevel is the processor. When your agency is the HighLevel customer and you run sub-accounts for clients, the chain usually looks like this:

1. Your client (controller)
2. Your agency (processor)
3. HighLevel (sub-processor), plus HighLevel's own sub-processors such as its cloud hosting providers

HighLevel's DPA covers that case directly: where the customer is itself a processor, HighLevel acts as a sub-processor. The roles matter because they decide who signs what, who answers data requests and who is responsible if something goes wrong.

HighLevel's Data Processing Agreement and Where Data Is Stored

The DPA

HighLevel's customer data processing addendum sets out the processor terms. The key points:

• Roles: HighLevel acts as processor of customer personal data, or as sub-processor where the customer is a processor.
• Sub-processors: HighLevel publishes its sub-processor list and gives notice of changes. Customers can object, and consent is presumed if no objection arrives within 30 days.
• Transfers: the DPA incorporates the EU 2021 Standard Contractual Clauses, with UK and Swiss variants.
• Data subject requests: HighLevel must help customers respond and must not answer a data subject itself without the customer's instructions.
• Breaches: HighLevel commits to notifying customers within 72 hours of becoming aware of a suspected personal data breach.
• Termination: on request, HighLevel deletes or returns customer personal data, with exceptions where the law requires it to keep data.

Where the data lives

According to HighLevel's security and compliance overview, its product infrastructure runs on Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services and "resides in the United States." There's no EU data residency option described there, so be upfront about it with clients who ask.

Transfers from the EU to the U.S. need a legal basis. HighLevel uses two: the Standard Contractual Clauses in its DPA and certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. The official Data Privacy Framework list shows HighLevel Inc (with LeadConnector LLC as a covered entity) as active under the EU-U.S. framework, the UK Extension and the Swiss-U.S. framework, first certified on September 29, 2023, with the next certification due in September 2027.

Consent for Email and SMS in the EU

Marketing rules for email and texts in Europe come from the ePrivacy rules as each country has implemented them, alongside GDPR. The general pattern: marketing messages to individuals need prior consent, with a limited "soft opt-in" in many countries for existing customers about similar products. Details vary by country, so check the rules where your client's customers live.

HighLevel gives you the tools to collect and record consent. Its guide to tracking consent and legal basis describes:

• Consent checkboxes on forms and surveys, with your own wording, tracked on the contact.
• Consent notices on the chat widget and booking calendars.
• A Terms and Privacy checkbox on order forms.
• A legal-basis field and tags (consent, contract, legitimate interest) that workflows can set automatically.

Practical rules for EU sub-accounts:

• Never pre-tick a marketing consent box.
• Keep the consent wording specific: what they'll receive, how often and how to stop.
• Include a working unsubscribe link in every marketing email and a clear opt-out in texts.
• Don't import purchased lists. They almost never come with valid consent.

Cookie Consent on Funnels and Websites

If your client's funnel uses analytics or ad pixels, EU visitors need to agree before non-essential cookies load. HighLevel's cookie consent banner for funnels and websites:

• Blocks non-essential cookies until the visitor agrees, with an "Ask to Opt-In" mode.
• Groups cookies into categories (essential, functional, analytics, performance, advertising) so visitors can choose.
• Applies to every page in the funnel or website once enabled.
• Can show only to visitors in the EU and UK, worldwide or in countries you choose.

Turn it on for every EU client, scan the site for cookies and make sure the privacy policy matches what's actually running.

Handling Access and Deletion Requests

People have the right to ask what data a business holds about them and, in many cases, to have it deleted. Under GDPR Article 12, the controller generally has one month to respond.

A simple process for each EU client:

1. Route requests to the client. The request belongs to the controller. If it reaches you, forward it to the client right away.
2. Find the contact. Search the sub-account for every record linked to the person: contact, conversations, form submissions, opportunities and payments.
3. Export or delete on instruction. Export the data for an access request, or delete it for an erasure request, only when the client confirms.
4. Check connected tools. Data often lives in other places too: the email platform, the ad audiences, the accounting tool.
5. Log it. Note the date of the request, what was done and when. A simple tagged task in HighLevel works.

What to Put in the Client Contract

GDPR Article 28 requires a written contract between a controller and a processor. For an agency, that's a data processing agreement with each EU client, usually attached to your services agreement. It should cover:

• What data you process, for what purpose and for how long.
• That you only act on the client's documented instructions.
• Confidentiality for anyone on your team who touches the data.
• Your security measures.
• Your sub-processors, including HighLevel, and how you'll tell the client about changes.
• How you'll help with data subject requests and breach notifications.
• What happens to the data when the contract ends: deletion or return.

Get it right because the stakes are real. Under GDPR Article 83, the highest tier of fines reaches 20 million euros or 4% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. A data protection advisor can turn this list into a solid template in an afternoon.

If you run HighLevel under your own brand, our white-label guide explains how the platform looks to your clients, and our post on the HIPAA add-on covers the U.S. health data side.

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• How to price your first 10 HighLevel clients: including what to put in the contract.
• What to charge your first 10 HighLevel clients: this week's pricing edition on Substack.
• r/highlevelaffiliates: our small community for HighLevel users and affiliates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HighLevel GDPR compliant?

HighLevel offers a data processing addendum with Standard Contractual Clauses, is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and provides consent and cookie tools. Compliance also depends on how you and your client set it up and use it.

Where is HighLevel data stored?

HighLevel says its product infrastructure runs on Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services in the United States. Transfers from the EU rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

Is my agency a controller or a processor?

Usually a processor. Your client decides how its customers' data is used, which makes it the controller. Your agency processes the data on its behalf, and HighLevel acts as a sub-processor.

Do I need a data processing agreement with my EU clients?

Yes. GDPR Article 28 requires a written contract between a controller and a processor covering instructions, confidentiality, security, sub-processors, assistance with requests and what happens to the data at the end.

Do I need consent to send marketing emails to EU contacts?

Generally yes, under the ePrivacy rules each country has implemented, with a limited soft opt-in for existing customers in many countries. Use consent checkboxes in HighLevel and record the legal basis on each contact.

Does HighLevel have a cookie consent banner?

Yes. Funnels and websites have a built-in cookie consent banner that can block non-essential cookies until the visitor opts in, with categories and a setting to show it only to EU and UK visitors.

How should an agency handle a GDPR deletion request?

Forward it to your client, who is the controller, find every record for that person in the sub-account and connected tools, delete only on the client's instruction and log what was done. Controllers generally have one month to respond.