Professional privilege meets GDPR
Professional service firms hold deeply sensitive information — financial records, legal matters, business strategies. GDPR gives individuals the right to access this data, but you also have professional obligations to protect confidentiality.
Getting this balance wrong risks both regulatory fines and professional negligence claims. SAR Portal helps you navigate these complex requests with confidence.
Common DSAR scenarios in professional services
"Send me my complete file"
A former client wants all correspondence, working papers, and notes. You need to identify what's their personal data vs. your work product.
Joint client situations
One party to a joint engagement requests data that includes information about the other party. Careful redaction is essential.
Employee data from HR clients
If you provide HR or payroll services, you may receive DSARs about employees of your clients. Complex data controller questions arise.
Pre-litigation requests
A DSAR may precede legal action against your firm or your client. Proper handling and documentation is critical.
Data professional services firms hold
Client Files
Correspondence, advice, reports, working papers
Financial Records
Accounts, tax returns, invoices, payments
Communications
Emails, meeting notes, call logs
Engagement Records
Letters of engagement, terms, billing
Practice Management
CRM, time recording, matter notes
ID Verification
AML/KYC documents, identity checks
How SAR Portal helps professional services
Protect client confidentiality
AI suggests redactions for other people's details (for example other clients in shared correspondence). You check them before anything is shared. Essential for multi-party engagements.
Document your decisions
Full audit trail of how you handled each request, what exemptions you applied, and why. Defensible if challenged.
Team collaboration
Give partners and managers access with four roles (Admin, Case Manager, Reviewer, Read-only), and track every case on one dashboard.
Secure delivery
For requests made through your portal, the client downloads the response from the secure portal after OTP verification, so nothing goes out as an email attachment. For requests received another way, you send the response yourself.