EmailOneSignal and the GDPR: agreement, role and data location.
OneSignal is a email tool. Most customers use it as a processor, it publishes its data processing agreement, and the data location depends on your account. Below: what to check and how to declare it.
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In short
- Category
- Usual role
- Usually a processor
- Data location
- Set per account or project
- Agreement
- Published by the vendor
What does OneSignal do with personal data?
Deliver transactional emails such as account notifications and password resets. That is how Privacyboard describes a typical use of OneSignal, as a starting point you can edit.
The data usually involved: recipient email addresses, message content and delivery metadata.
Is OneSignal a processor or a controller?
Most customers use OneSignal as a processor: it handles personal data on their instructions, for the purposes they set. That is the common reading for email tools and it is what Privacyboard suggests.
As a processor, it needs a written agreement with you under Article 28, and you should know which subprocessors it uses. Confirm the role against your own agreement, because the way you use a tool can change it.
Where does OneSignal store personal data?
OneSignal does not have one fixed location for every customer. The location depends on the plan, the account and the services you enable.
How to find yours: Check your account settings or OneSignal’s data processing terms for where your data is stored.
Even when the main location is in the EU, ask whether subprocessors or support access involve a transfer outside the EEA, and record it if so.
Does OneSignal have a data processing agreement?
Checked on 1 November 2026. Vendors change their pages, so check the date.
Yes. OneSignal publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep.
What we noted when we opened the page: Data Processing Addendum; page shows conflicting dates (July 1 and September 1, 2026). Provider is OneSignal, Inc. and affiliates. A schedule says servers are on Google Cloud in the Netherlands, but global processing is also permitted.
A page that exists does not mean you are covered. Whether the agreement applies to you depends on your plan and on what you accepted, so record the decision yourself in your vendor list.
Read the OneSignal agreementHow to declare OneSignal
- 1
In your privacy policy
Name OneSignal as a recipient, say what it is used for (deliver transactional emails such as account notifications and password resets) and mention any transfer outside the EEA. Articles 13 and 14 ask you to tell people who receives their data.
- 2
In your vendor list
Add OneSignal with its purpose, the data involved, its role, its region and a link to the agreement. Privacyboard prefills all of this, you confirm or correct it.
- 3
In your processing register
Link OneSignal to the activities that use it, so each record shows its recipients. Article 30 asks the register to list the categories of recipients.
What to check before relying on OneSignal
- Check the sending region and how message content and logs are retained.
- Avoid putting more personal data in messages than the message needs.
- Make sure bounce and complaint data is handled in line with your retention rules.
- Record the provider as a recipient of customer email addresses.
Questions, answered.
Is OneSignal GDPR compliant?
Privacyboard does not certify vendors. Compliance depends on how OneSignal is configured and used, on the agreement you have with it and on your own practices. What can be checked is documented here: it publishes a data processing agreement, the usual role and the data location. Read the agreement itself before relying on it.
Does OneSignal have a DPA?
Yes. OneSignal publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep. You can read it at https://onesignal.com/dpa.
Is OneSignal a data processor?
Usually, yes. Most customers use OneSignal as a processor that acts on their instructions. Check your own agreement and how you use the tool, because the role can differ.
Where does OneSignal store data?
OneSignal does not have one fixed location for every customer. The location depends on the plan, the account and the services you enable. How to find yours: Check your account settings or OneSignal’s data processing terms for where your data is stored.
Do I need to mention OneSignal in my privacy policy?
Yes, if OneSignal handles personal data for you. The GDPR asks you to tell people who receives their data (Articles 13 and 14). Name the vendor or its category, say what it is used for and mention any transfer outside the EEA.
How do I add OneSignal to my vendor list?
In Privacyboard, pick OneSignal from the catalog. The purpose, the data, the suggested role and a link to its agreement are prefilled, and you confirm each one. Creating a workspace is free.
Privacyboard is not affiliated with OneSignal. Names and logos belong to their owners and are used only to identify the tool. This page summarises public documents as checked on 1 November 2026; it is guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify any vendor.