Understanding Dsar Process

Why Automating DSARs Is Now a Business Imperative

Just a few years ago, handling a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) was a relatively rare event for most organisations. A handful of requests per year, often handled manually by legal or privacy teams.

That is no longer the case.

As global privacy regulations expand and individuals become more aware of their data rights, DSAR volumes are rising sharply across industries. Managing them manually has become inefficient, resource-intensive, and increasingly risky.

For organisations that wish to operate responsibly, build trust, and maintain compliance, automating the DSAR process is no longer optional. It is a business imperative.

The Shifting DSAR Landscape

Regulations such as the GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, and emerging frameworks in Canada, India, and other jurisdictions have enshrined individuals’ right to access their personal data. Consumers, employees, and even former employees are exercising this right at a growing rate.

This trend is driven by several forces:

• Increased public awareness of privacy rights

• Greater media attention on data breaches and corporate accountability

• A rise in employee-driven DSARs, often tied to HR disputes or broader litigation

• Expanding privacy laws with shorter response deadlines and stricter enforcement

At the same time, the complexity of responding to a DSAR has grown. Personal data is no longer confined to a few internal systems; it now resides across cloud platforms, collaboration tools, archived systems, third-party processors, and mobile applications.

What used to be a straightforward legal task now requires deep coordination across legal, privacy, IT, and business teams. And without automation, it introduces significant risks.

The Limits and Risks of Manual DSAR Processing

Manual DSAR handling often involves the following steps:

• Logging the request in a spreadsheet or tracking system

• Manually verifying the requestor’s identity

• Asking IT to locate and extract relevant personal data from various systems

• Legal and privacy teams manually reviewing and redacting documents

• Manually compiling and delivering the response package

• Attempting to document each step for auditability

While this may have sufficed when requests were infrequent, it no longer scales. Manual processes introduce five key risks:

Compliance Risk
Many privacy laws mandate response deadlines of 30 to 45 days. Manual processes are prone to delays, which can result in fines, regulatory investigations, or enforcement actions.

Accuracy Risk
Manual review and redaction are labour-intensive and error-prone. Inadvertent disclosure of third-party data or sensitive information can trigger legal liability and reputational damage.

Auditability Gaps
Without a robust audit trail, proving compliance during regulatory audits becomes difficult. Manual processes rarely provide sufficient documentation of actions taken.

Resource Drain
Manual DSAR handling consumes significant legal, privacy, and IT resources. In some cases, it can take 40 to 80 hours to process a single request. As volumes grow, this becomes unsustainable.

Reputation Impact
Consumers and employees expect organisations to handle their privacy rights efficiently and respectfully. A delayed or poorly handled DSAR can damage trust and lead to negative publicity.

The Role of Automation

Automation does not replace legal oversight or privacy judgement. Rather, it enables legal and privacy teams to focus on high-value decision-making, while automating repetitive, error-prone tasks.

A well-designed DSAR automation solution typically supports the following capabilities:

Structured Intake and Identity Verification
Automation ensures consistent intake, secure identity verification, and deadline tracking, reducing the risk of process errors.

Data Discovery Across Systems
Automated data mapping and connectors streamline the process of locating personal data across on-premises systems, cloud platforms, and third-party processors.

Intelligent Redaction
AI-assisted redaction tools help privacy teams efficiently review and redact sensitive data while maintaining accuracy and consistency.

Audit Trail Generation
Every action in the DSAR process is logged automatically, providing a defensible audit trail that meets regulatory requirements.

Scalability
As DSAR volumes increase, automation enables organisations to handle requests efficiently without requiring significant increases in staff.

Improved Customer and Employee Experience
Automation supports faster, more professional responses to DSARs, which helps build trust and demonstrates privacy maturity.

The Business Case for Automation

While regulatory compliance is a primary driver, DSAR automation also delivers clear business benefits:

• Lower cost per DSAR request

• Reduced risk of non-compliance and legal exposure

• Improved operational efficiency and resource optimisation

• Enhanced ability to demonstrate accountability to regulators and stakeholders

• Strengthened brand trust through professional handling of data rights

Conclusion

Manual DSAR processing is no longer viable in today’s privacy landscape. The risks, inefficiencies, and opportunity costs are simply too great.

Automating the DSAR process allows organisations to meet growing regulatory expectations, manage operational complexity, and foster trust with their stakeholders.

As privacy becomes a core element of corporate responsibility, DSAR automation should be viewed as an essential component of a mature, forward-looking privacy program.

Organisations that invest in automation now will be better equipped to manage future challenges — and to turn privacy compliance into a competitive advantage.

If your team is looking to automate DSAR handling in a way that is scalable, auditable, and defensible — without losing control — we invite you to explore DSAR.ai.
Request a demo to learn more.