DSAR Compliance Under GDPR: What Legal Teams Must Know 

Why Corporate Counsel Must Take the Lead on Data Subject Access Requests Under GDPR and Beyond

With personal data flowing across more systems than ever, managing privacy compliance now demands close coordination between security, IT, legal, and customer teams. The rise in Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) is pushing organizations to rethink how they locate and deliver personal data at scale. DSARs are no longer rare, they’re a costly, legally mandated part of doing business. For legal teams, response speed is becoming a key measure of risk readiness.

The latest white paper, Understanding DSARs: A Corporate Counsel’s Playbook for Managing Privacy Compliance under GDPR gives legal teams the tools, strategies, and insight to manage this critical area with confidence.

The New Global Reality of DSARs

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has had a ripple effect far beyond Europe. Its provisions, including the right of access to personal data, have sparked a global legislative wave that has spread from South Korea to Canada to California.

The Numbers Tell the Story:

• DSARs under GDPR increased by 24% between 2022 and 2024.

• One global financial services provider reported in the EY survey that it receives about 1,000 DSARs a month many of which weren't even from actual clients.

• In just three years, the number of GDPR-related requests on sites that used Termly, a privacy compliance service provider, increased by 222%.

• A staggering 36% of internet users globally have exercised their privacy rights in some form.

The First Line of Defence: Corporate Counsel

You already know what’s at stake, GDPR penalties have climbed into the billions. And while major headlines often focus on large corporations, even smaller organisations are not immune. A single mishandled Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) can expose your company to:

• Financial penalties

• Regulatory scrutiny

• Brand and reputational damage

• Loss of customer trust

What Makes DSARs So Challenging?

DSARs are deceptively simple in concept: a person wants to know what data you have about them. In practice? They're a minefield.

Common DSAR Challenges:

• Requests can be submitted via email, phone, chatbot, or even social media, and often without clear language.

• You have 30 days to respond, and if you take internal reviews and verification into consideration, you may have less time.

• To prevent violating the rights of others, you must redact third-party information. This is a prone to mistakes process if you don't have the proper tools.

The question isn’t whether your company will receive a DSAR. The question is: Will you be ready when it does?

Unlocking the Playbook You’ve Been Missing

That’s where our whitepaper comes in.

Understanding DSARs: A Corporate Counsel’s Playbook for Managing Privacy Compliance under GDPR lays out all the information that legal and compliance teams require to not only get through the DSAR process but also use it to their advantage.

Inside, you’ll find:

A breakdown of:

• What a DSAR really is under GDPR, CCPA, CPRA, and other laws

• The subtle but critical differences in regional privacy laws that can affect your compliance strategy

• Real-world DSAR cases, and what other organizations are doing to manage the growing volume and complexity of these requests

Operational Best Practices:

• How to structure a repeatable DSAR response workflow

• Tips for managing employee-related DSARs without breaching confidentiality

• Strategies for automated identity verification that don’t introduce new risk

• Why creating a data map is now required, and where to begin

Technology Insights:

• How tools like Logikcull can help automate:

• Search and tagging of personal data

• Redaction of third-party information

• Generation of machine-readable, GDPR-compliant exports

And best of all, we include a Legal Ops Readiness Checklist so you can assess where your current process stands, and where it needs to go.

The Cost of Doing Nothing

If you’re thinking, "We’ll deal with DSARs when they come," you’re taking a risk that could cost far more than time.

Consider this:

• Under laws like the GDPR, non-compliance can result in significant financial penalties

• Mishandled DSARs can lead to employee grievances, class actions, or even litigation

• Reputational fallout from a privacy misstep can take years to recover from, if at all

You wouldn’t go into litigation without a document hold process. So why go into privacy response without a DSAR playbook?

Ready to Step into the Driver’s Seat?

Whether you're just starting to build your DSAR process or looking to optimize an existing workflow, this white paper is your essential guide.

Learn how to turn an operational obligation into a powerful legal asset, before the next DSAR hits your inbox. Stay prepared while being proactive.

Download the Whitepaper