Data Subject Request Management

A data subject request (DSR) is a formal request from an individual to exercise their privacy rights over personal data your organization holds about them. You may also see the terms DSAR (data subject access request) or SAR (subject access request) used interchangeably, depending on the regulation and geography.

The core request types are:

• Deletion: The individual wants their personal data erased.
• Access: The individual wants to know what data you hold about them and how it's used.
• Correction: The individual wants inaccurate data updated.
• Portability: The individual wants their data in a transferable format.

Opt-out / Do Not Sell or Share: The individual wants to stop certain types of data processing or sale.

What is a Data Subject?

A "data subject" is any person whose personal data your organization holds: a customer, an employee, a vendor contact, a website visitor, or anyone else. Some regulations exclude certain persons from data subject request compliance. For example, many U.S. state-level regulations do not require organizations honor data subject requests from past and former employees. 

What are DSARs vs. DSRs?

The terms DSAR and DSR are sometimes used interchangeably, but they mean different things.

 DSAR refers specifically to requests for access to all personal data your organization holds on the data subject, or "data subject access request."  This term was popularized by GDPR. 

DSR is the broader umbrella term that covers all the rights a data subject can exercise, including requests to correct data, pause or restrict processing, delete data, transfer data to another controller (data portability), and object to certain types of processing. 

Why Would Someone Submit a DSR?

People submit DSARs and DSRs for a range of reasons, and curiosity about what a company knows is only one of them.

• Data privacy concerns. Someone wants to limit how their data is being used, shared, or sold. This is the most common trigger.
• Data breach recovery. After a breach notification, individuals often file DSARs to determine exactly which of their data was involved and who had access to it.
• Data correction. Information may be inaccurate or outdated, impacting automated decision making and other outcomes for a consumer.

Who Can Submit a DSR?

While GDPR permits any data subject to submit a DSR (e.g. employees, contractors, suppliers, partners, customers, former customers, job applicants, and website visitors) other regulations have more exclusions. For example, many U.S. regulations exclude past and present employees from data subject rights. 

Regulations commonly require organizations have verbal, written, and/or electronic methods for submitting a DSR, outlined in their privacy policy. Some regulations specifically require certain request intake methods like email or web form, and regulations can also differ on whether organizations are required to honor data subject requests received through "authorized agents" or other third parties. 

How Can DataGrail Help with Managing DSRs?

For organizations where DSR volume, regulation complexity, or manual processes are creating risk, purpose-built DSR software takes the pain out of fulfillment.

DataGrail Request Manager provides DSR automation across the full request lifecycle. Branded intake forms route requests into a centralized dashboard with automatic jurisdiction detection. DataGrail's robust verification options can authenticate requesters using data you already hold, with no government IDs, no selfies, and no friction.

From there, DataGrail searches across hundreds of connected systems to locate personal data, replacing weeks of manual coordination with minutes of automated data subject request automation. Access, deletion, correction, and opt-out requests are handled through a single platform with built-in deadline tracking, audit trails, and regulatory documentation.

Enterprise privacy teams looking for DSR software that scales with volume benefit from no-code setup, continuous system detection (including shadow IT discovery), and centralized management that lets a single person operate what used to require cross-functional sprints across legal, IT, and engineering.

To see how it works, request a demo.