Subject access requests (SARs) have been centre stage this week after Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, used transparency legislation to obtain a dossier from Coutts bank that raised concerns his views did not “align with our values” before it closed his account.
Since the Data Protection Act was introduced in 1998, everyone has had the right to request a copy of all personal information an organisation holds about them, subject to certain exemptions. That can include emails or reports about them.
The law was updated in 2018 to say that organisations must normally provide a copy of the records they hold within a month of a person requesting them, without charge.
All you need to do is contact an organisation’s data protection officer to
Enjoy unlimited digital access. £1 for 6 months.