Standards assurance
Control objective
Define retention, masking, and cryptographic protection of card data.
Stored account data is protected with strong cryptography and minimization.
Control facts
Code: PCI-REQ3
Framework: PCI DSS (4.0)
Category: Data Protection
Severity: critical
Browse all PCI DSS controls →Why this control matters
Stored account data is protected with strong cryptography and minimization.
- • Define retention, masking, and cryptographic protection of card data.
- • Auditors typically expect data retention policy and key management standards as evidence of operation.
- • Maps to policy categories: Data Protection, It Security.
How Quick Policy implements this control
The platform generates supporting policies, training, and evidence requirements automatically.
- • Policies covering this control are pre-drafted and mapped
- • Required evidence is defined per control, with upload and audit-packet export built in
- • Owner assignment and review cadence built in
- • Training campaigns reference the control to demonstrate operating effectiveness
Evidence auditors expect
- • data retention policy
- • key management standards
Maps to policy categories
How Quick Policy demonstrates PCI-REQ3 operating effectiveness
Continuous evidence capture, mapped policies, and training campaigns — all aligned to this control.
Capture Core Profile
Admins complete adaptive onboarding to establish operating model, risk posture, and compliance objectives.
Determine Applicable Standards
Standards applicability ranks obligations by industry, geography, services, and data profile.
Generate and Harmonise Policy
Three-pass generation drafts, repairs contradictions, and validates coverage before reviewer handoff.
Review, Approve, and Sign Off
Approvers validate policy language, mappings, and obligations, then publish through a sign-off chain that tracks every person against every policy on one exportable compliance matrix.
Frequently asked questions
What evidence do auditors expect for PCI-REQ3?
Typically: data retention policy; key management standards. Quick Policy defines the expected evidence for this control, lets your team upload and attach it, and packages it into an audit-ready export. A watchdog also monitors for regulatory and standard changes that could affect this control's requirements.
How does this control map to other frameworks?
The platform maintains a crosswalk between baseline frameworks, so the same uploaded evidence file can be attached to related controls across ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST CSF, and HIPAA rather than being collected separately for each.
Related guidance
Explore the full PCI DSS catalogue or related policy templates.
Protect Stored Account Data FAQs
What evidence do auditors expect for PCI-REQ3?
Typically: data retention policy; key management standards. Quick Policy defines the expected evidence for this control, lets your team upload and attach it, and packages it into an audit-ready export. A watchdog also monitors for regulatory and standard changes that could affect this control's requirements.
How does this control map to other frameworks?
The platform maintains a crosswalk between baseline frameworks, so the same uploaded evidence file can be attached to related controls across ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST CSF, and HIPAA rather than being collected separately for each.