Sit and Relax - Why You Shouldn’t Chase a Response to a Subject Access Request

I regularly see people on social media chasing companies such as utility companies and telecommunications companies for a response to a subject access request (SAR).

I don’t know if it is that some organisations aren’t aware of the time limits to respond or whether they take consumers for granted and will respond in their own time. I find it difficult to believe that a big organisation such as a phone or broadband company wouldn’t have access to a legal advisor to brief them on the law.

By way of background, a SAR is made under Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and s.45 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18). The DPA18 is the domestic law which is designed to complement the GDPR.

Under the GDPR the time to respond to a SAR is one calendar month so if a SAR was received by the organisation (known as a data controller) on 10th November, the individual (known as the data subject in this context) would expect to receive a reply by 10th December.

There is no requirement for individuals to chase and chase, nor should they expect to be ignored. The point of the right of access is for individuals to  find out if an organisation is holding data about them, how that data is being processed or used and to obtain copies of that data.

If you have made a SAR and not received a response, there’s no need to chase on social media. Sit back, relax and if you don’t receive a response to your SAR contact JMW Solicitors for details of how we may be able to help you claim compensation on a “no win no fee” basis - and while you are relaxing, watch our video here.