In a world where 6 billion people are protected by nearly 150 privacy regulations, data subject requests are becoming a significant operational challenge. Gal Ringel explores how organizations are transforming their approach to DSRs from costly manual processes to strategic privacy initiatives.
Under data privacy laws like the GDPR and CCPA and many others, consumers are empowered to file a data subject request (DSR) to learn what personal data an organization has collected about them and how that organization stores, processes and transmits that information.
The scope of these regulations is massive: An estimated 6 billion people are now protected by nearly 150 privacy and data protection regulations. As awareness of these data rights grows, so does the volume of DSRs organizations must handle.
The growing DSR challenge
The surge in DSRs creates significant operational challenges for organizations already navigating complex data environments. Expanding regulatory frameworks across local, national and global jurisdictions have resulted in a patchwork of privacy rules that compliance teams must navigate. As more regulations pass, the stream of DSRs continues to rise, with enterprises mandated to fulfill these requests within specific timeframes.
Consumer awareness is simultaneously increasing. The UK’s information commissioner reported a 66% increase in complaints in the first year post-GDPR implementation alone. Industries handling sensitive information, particularly financial services and healthcare, tend to experience higher volumes of these requests.
And the continued proliferation of regulations is further complicating the landscape. The introduction of third-party data sharing transparency requirements in laws like the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act and California’s Delete Act point to the rise of universal opt-out mechanisms (UOOMs), which have major implications for consent management and DSR handling.
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Read moreDetailsThe resource burden
For many organizations, DSR fulfillment remains a largely manual and resource-intensive process. Manually completing DSRs requires locating and sifting through data across disparate systems, a time-intensive data mapping exercise that most IT and privacy teams lack sufficient resources to routinely complete.
The average organization now connects to hundreds of data sources, making a single DSR response a complex endeavor that demands significant time and financial investment. Major technology companies face this challenge at tremendous scale, processing substantial volumes of user requests annually.
Data privacy has spawned what feels like an endless race for privacy platforms with ever-larger libraries to integrate with corporate data ecosystems. Yet many organizations still struggle with ensuring compliance across their global operations while maintaining continuous discovery of their data inventory.
Strategic privacy management
As the regulatory environment becomes more complex and request volumes increase, organizations must develop more efficient approaches to managing DSRs. The traditional manual methods are increasingly unsustainable as data environments grow in complexity and consumer awareness rises.
AI, trained on publicly available documentation like privacy policies, is emerging as a valuable tool to streamline compliance processes and flag potential risks. The size of the average data stack has grown so massive that technological assistance has become essential for compliance teams to maintain effective oversight.
Meaningful privacy partnerships are being formed in a complex regulatory and data governance environment that changes constantly. While the data privacy industry has been relatively slow to innovate, compliance professionals have taken the initiative in improving DSR handling, helping organizations create a more privacy-conscious approach to data management that serves both regulatory requirements and consumer expectations.
The key to effectively managing DSR requests lies in developing processes that are intuitive, efficient and scalable enough to keep pace with growing demand while maintaining rigorous compliance standards.
Gal Ringel is CEO and co-founder of MineOS, a data privacy and governance management provider. For years, Ringel has worked with risk and compliance professionals, privacy officers and legal counsel to develop robust data privacy programs that address the complexities of data governance in changing regulatory environments. 
