Subject Access Request (SAR)
A legal right under UK GDPR for an individual to request a copy of the personal data an organisation holds about them, with a one-month statutory response deadline.
How it works
SARs are operationally expensive for UK organisations at scale. Each request requires searching across all systems holding personal data, redacting third-party identifiers and exempt material, packaging the response, and meeting the one-month deadline (extensible by a further two months for complex requests). For NHS Trusts, large employers, financial services firms, and public bodies, SAR volume is significant. Full code AI automation handles the searchable surface area: locating relevant records across clinical, operational, and HR systems, identifying material that needs redaction, drafting the response, and surfacing the cases that need human IG officer review. We have shipped pipelines that compress 22-day response cycles to under 4 hours of working time.
Related terms
UK GDPR
The UK's data protection regime as established by the Data Protection Act 2018, retaining the substantive requirements of EU GDPR after Brexit, governing how personal data is collected, processed, stored, and shared.
ICO (Information Commissioner's Office)
The UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection, responsible for enforcing UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
A formal assessment required under UK GDPR before processing personal data in ways likely to result in high risk to individuals, documenting the necessity, proportionality, and mitigation of identified risks.
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