5 Major Benefits of Automating the DSAR Process

A data subject access request (DSAR) is when a consumer contacts a business to ask what personal data the organization has collected, how it’s being used, and when it will be deleted.

In addition to data portability and correction, many state privacy laws also allow consumers to request the deletion of their data. Depending on the law, companies have to respond to a DSAR between 30-60 days.

Automating the DSAR process can help businesses save time and money while ensuring compliance with data privacy laws. Some of the key benefits of automating DSARs include the following.

» Learn how to verify user identification for DSARs

1. Immediate Identification & Redaction

When a DSAR is received, automated software can immediately identify and redact the affected records in real-time across all relevant systems. Businesses can thus save a significant amount of time that would otherwise be used for manual steps.

Data subject identity authentication also accounts for a huge amount of time during DSAR fulfillment. Organizations can use an automated privacy request platform to build two-factor authentication into the request process and completely eliminate a manual step. Once you’ve authenticated someone’s request for information about their data, you can then locate all of the data your organization has on them.

2. Improved Sensitive Personal Data Security

As part of the automated process, sensitive personal data can be immediately flagged for encryption and securely stored. This prevents unauthorized access to the data in case of a breach or employee error, helping businesses better safeguard their customer data and avoid costly compliance penalties.

Ideally, data collected and sorted during a DSAR would only be accessible to those who need it. Though this is not always possible, an automated DSAR fulfillment platform can limit or even eliminate the need for manual review.

Just like external threats like hackers, internal threats are a big security concern for organizations. If there is any weak spot in an organization’s internal databases, it could result in a data breach. That’s why all sensitive data must remain encrypted during the DSAR process.

» Want to make data protection easy? Check out these sensitive data scanning tools for e-commerce.

3. Mitigated Risk of Non-Compliance

As mentioned above, a late response to a DSAR can result in steep fines. Automating the process eliminates many of the manual and time-consuming steps involved in fulfillment, thus reducing the risk of non-compliance.

In addition to filing penalties due to a late or incomplete response, businesses may be held liable for any data misuse that occurs if their data is compromised. Therefore, it’s important to automate the DSAR process and limit the possibility of human error.

Automation allows you to keep better track of requests and helps ensure data is accurate and up-to-date. This way, your organization can avoid being fined for failure to meet a request on time or in its entirety.

4. Time Saved by Eliminating Manual Processes

As mentioned, automating the DSAR process has several benefits for businesses and consumers. However, perhaps the most important benefit is time savings. Not only do automated software platforms allow organizations to respond to a request in a fraction of the time it would take them manually, but it also saves your organization money by reducing manual labor costs.

When fulfilling DSARs manually, teams often have to use spreadsheets, project management tools, email, and privacy inboxes as their only solutions. These platforms are not built to handle the volume of requests that businesses receive, which can lead to long response times. Automation allows businesses to streamline their data processes and fulfill DSARs quickly. This ultimately saves both their customers and employees valuable time and resources.

5. Better Informed Decision-Making

With an automated platform, you can better understand how many requests your organization receives and where the data is located. This allows organizations to make more informed decisions about how to store their data in order to fulfill requests quickly and accurately, as well as mitigate any potential risks that could result from non-compliance.

Bottom Line

Overall, automating the DSAR process can help businesses better protect their data and comply with legal regulations. By reducing manual steps and improving security, organizations can mitigate risks of non-compliance and serve their customers’ needs better. Whether you’re using an automated solution or manually fulfilling DSARs, it’s important to ensure that your organization is taking the necessary steps to safeguard customer data.

» Find out how PieEye simplifies data subject request management