Data subject access requests

Individuals have the right under data protection law to make Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR) to find out what personal data an organisation holds on them and how it uses that information.

Personal information can be stored in different applications and locations, which can be time-consuming to find and extract. The tools available to search these systems are not sophisticated enough to produce a specific set of results. Instead, with only the ability to use broad search criteria, the results can run into hundreds of thousands of documents potentially in the scope of the DSAR.

With the time pressure to respond to the request, combined with the potential volume of information returned, our legal experts have developed a range of services to help return efficient and effective results to DSAR requests.

Using our powerful Discover by Brodies tool and methodologies we can rapidly reduce the time it takes to review, sift and sort documents when dealing with a DSAR.

Discover by Brodies provides the ability to:

• categorise documents into different types, which can then be managed through a powerful dashboard
• bulk sort documents and removal of duplications
• collate and view emails by conversation thread
• filter emails based on sender and recipients
• tag documents that are in or out of scope or subject to exemptions
• collaborate with colleagues and allocate review tasks and approvals
• apply redactions
• export final documents for sharing with the applicant

Using Discover by Brodies can help to reduce document volumes from tens of thousands to hundreds within minutes, resulting in fewer documents that need manual review.

Get in touch

To find out more about our DSAR support services, including how our data protection experts can help you respond to a DSAR, or how we can provide your team with a fully managed self-service solution, please get in touch with Martin Sloan, Ed McElroy or your usual Brodies contact.