How Compliance Checking Works in Vantage
Most product teams check compliance after development. Vantage checks it before, at the requirements stage, when fixing issues costs hours instead of weeks.
The core problem
Compliance is typically treated as a gate at the end of development. Security reviews happen after code is written. Legal reviews happen after features are built. When a compliance issue is found at that stage, fixing it means rework, delayed releases, and frustrated teams. The cost of a compliance fix grows exponentially the later it is caught.
Built-in standards plus custom rules
Vantage includes six standards out of the box. You can also define custom compliance rules for your industry, internal policies, or client contracts. All rules are checked together in a single run.
GDPR
Data privacy rights for EU users. Consent, data portability, right to deletion, and lawful processing basis.
HIPAA
Protected health information handling. Access controls, encryption, audit trails, and minimum necessary access.
SOC2
Security, availability, and confidentiality controls. Access management, change management, and incident response.
CCPA
California consumer privacy rights. Opt-out mechanisms, data disclosure, and deletion requests.
PCI-DSS
Payment card data security. Encryption, access controls, network segmentation, and logging.
WCAG
Web accessibility guidelines. Keyboard navigation, screen reader support, color contrast, and alternative text.
How the workflow works
Step 1: Write or generate your spec
Create your product requirements as you normally would. Write them manually, generate them from connected data, or import from Notion or Confluence. Compliance checking works on any spec in Vantage, regardless of how it was created.
Step 2: Run a compliance check
Trigger a compliance check on your spec. Vantage analyzes each requirement against the relevant standards. A requirement involving user data is checked against GDPR and CCPA. A requirement involving payment flows is checked against PCI-DSS. Vantage determines which standards apply based on the content of each requirement.
Step 3: Review flagged items
Vantage surfaces advisory risk flags for requirements that may have compliance implications. Each flag includes the specific standard, the risk identified, and a suggested remediation. For example: "This requirement stores user preferences. Under GDPR, you may need explicit consent for this data processing. Consider adding a consent mechanism."
Step 4: Address or document decisions
For each flagged item, you can update the requirement to address the risk, add a note explaining why the risk is acceptable, or forward the flag to your legal or security team for review. Every decision is recorded in the audit trail.
Step 5: Generate compliance reports
Export a compliance report showing which requirements were checked, what was flagged, and how each flag was resolved. Share this with your security team, legal counsel, or auditors. The report provides a documented trail of compliance consideration at the requirements stage.
What gets flagged
Compliance checking looks for specific patterns in your requirements that may have regulatory implications. Here are common examples:
Storing user-provided data
GDPR consent requirements, CCPA disclosure obligations, data retention policies
Payment or financial data handling
PCI-DSS encryption requirements, tokenization needs, access control gaps
Health or patient information
HIPAA minimum necessary access, encryption at rest and in transit, audit logging
User-facing interfaces
WCAG keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, color contrast ratios
Authentication and access
SOC2 access management, session handling, multi-factor authentication considerations
Data sharing with third parties
GDPR data processing agreements, CCPA service provider requirements, cross-border data transfer
Why checking at the requirements stage matters
The cost of fixing a compliance issue increases at every stage of development:
Requirements
Hours to fix
Development
Days to fix
QA / Review
Weeks to fix
Post-launch
Months to fix
Vantage moves compliance checking to the leftmost stage. By the time your engineering team starts building, the obvious compliance gaps are already addressed.