Data access requests "do not have to be feared"

Tuesday 07 September 2021

A seminar will be held later this month to explore the practicalities of responding to Data Subject Access Requests made by employees either in the course of their employment or once it has terminated.

The seminar, scheduled for 23 September, has been designed for the HR community, managers and those with new responsibilities for data protection.

The seminar will be co-hosted by Focus HR and Bedell Cristin and will be delivered by experienced employment lawyer Carly Parrott, a Counsel at Bedell Cristin, and John Ioannou-Droushiotis, HR Consultant at Focus HR. 

Under the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2017 data subjects have 10 individual rights. This session will focus on the second of those rights – the 'right of access'.

Broadly speaking, this right which entitles a data subject (i.e. an employee) to ask a data controller (i.e. their employer) whether it processes their personal information and for what purpose, to be informed of the nature and content of that personal information and to be given a copy of that personal information. 

"Data subject access requests often prove to be one of the most challenging areas of the data protection law for employers to manage," said Ms Parrot. 

"Sifting through vast amounts of information (including emails) to find personal data specific to an employee can be daunting and the reality is that responding to a DSAR is time consuming. But it doesn’t have to a process to be feared.

"This session has been designed to help alleviate the fear that many employers harbour about responding to DSAR and will explain how, by taking a few practical measures, organisations can provide more efficient, consistent and timely DSAR responses."

Becky Machon, Director and Owner Focus HR said DSARs represent a technical and complex legal area for the HR community and employers.

“Data Subject Access Requests are notoriously time consuming and costly to employers," she said.

"There are many pitfalls associated with DSARs which employers are to be aware of including accessing and providing the right data – the provision of personal data and not the provision of the documentation, and the type and level of information that is captured by the request.

“We aim for this seminar to assist HR professionals and employers to navigate the process while learning about the risk exposures to be mindful of."

The breakfast seminar is taking place at 8:00 on Thursday 23 September 2021. More information HERE.