How to process a Subject Access Request (SAR)

Overview

Under the GDPR, contacts can ask to see all of the data you hold on them - known as a Subject Access Request (SAR). The platform gives you the tools to ensure you can comply with this. 

Steps to process a Subject Access Request

 To export the data you need to send to a contact, follow these steps for these three areas of the platform (should you hold data on your contact in all of these areas):

Exporting Contact data

Go to Contacts, find the contact in question and click on them to access the 'Manage contact' page

1. Click on Contact actions in the top right and select Export this contact
2. You'll be taken to the 'Exports' page where the contact's data will be downloaded to. Once complete, click on Download.
3. You'll be asked to authenticate your account; please do so to continue
4. Click on Download again and a zip file will download to your computer
5. Open it to access a CSV file containing all of the contact's data that's stored in your contact data fields. Any Insight data held on the contact will be contained in separate JSON files (a file per collection).

You'll then be able to send this information to the contact.

Exporting Surveys and forms data

You may hold data on a contact in a survey or form too, and this will need to be separately exported to fully comply with their request.

To do so, follow these steps (which you may need to repeat for all of your surveys to find out which ones your contact has responded to):

1. Go to Surveys & forms and click on the Reports icon next to a survey
2. In the 'Survey report' page, click on the Responses tab
3. Click on the dropdown next to the search box and select Include complete and partial responses to ensure you get all data submitted
4. In the 'Search box', type in your contact's name or email address (whatever serves best to identify them). If results get returned, then you know you need to export the survey's results. If no results are returned, then you can move onto the next survey and search that.
5. Click on Export to CSV in the top right to export the survey's results
6. You'll be asked what you'd like to include in the export. Again, select Complete and partial responses to make sure you export all of the data, and then click Export.
7. You'll be taken to the 'Exports' page where the survey's data will be downloaded to. Once complete, click on Download and a CSV file will download to your computer.
8. Open the CSV file, filter on the contact in question and then copy and paste only the data belonging to that contact into a new file

You'll then be able to send this information to the contact.

Exporting SMS data

You may also hold data on a contact in the SMS tool, and this will also need to be separately exported to fully comply with their request.

Whereas we don't provide a tool to export data held on SMS contacts, we simply suggest taking the following steps:

1. Go to SMS, click on Contacts, search for the mobile number belonging to the contact in question and click on Edit alongside them
2. In the 'Edit SMS contact' page, copy out any data in the 'Phone number' field, plus any held in fields 1-5, and save it into a file of your choice

You'll then be able to send this information to the contact.