Insights
How Long Do You Have to Respond to a DSAR — and Can You Pause the Clock?
You have one calendar month to respond to a DSAR, but since 5 February 2026 that month runs from the “relevant time” — the latest of receipt, requested ID, or fee — and you can pause the clock while you wait for information you reasonably need to identify what has been requested.
How to Respond to a CCTV Subject Access Request: A Step-by-Step Guide
Responding to a CCTV subject access request involves six steps: verify identity, preserve the footage before it is overwritten, confirm the requester is identifiable, assess third parties, redact and record the decisions, and disclose securely within one calendar month.
When Disclosure Becomes a Governance Issue Rather Than an Operational Task
Disclosure is a governance issue because every DSAR, FOI request, and legal disclosure produces organisational records of judgement that boards may later have to account for — yet in most organisations it is managed purely as an operational task. That gap is where disclosure risk lives.
Why Speed Is the Wrong Primary Metric for Disclosure
Speed is the wrong primary metric for DSAR and FOI handling because timeliness is a statutory constraint, not the objective: a response delivered on time that cannot be explained afterwards still fails. Deadlines matter. Reasoned decisions matter more.
Audit Trails Are Not Evidence Unless They Capture Reasoning
An audit trail is only evidence of a defensible disclosure process if it records why decisions were made, not just when files were opened, edited, or exported. Activity logs demonstrate process. They do not demonstrate judgement.
CCTV and Video DSARs: Where Good Processes Break Down
CCTV and video DSARs fail more often than document-based requests because organisations improvise: footage is copied to unmanaged systems, redacted with editing tools, and disclosed without a record of what was reviewed or excluded. The medium is not the problem; the absence of process is.
The Silent Risk of ‘Non-Relevant’ Documents in Disclosure
A decision that a document is “non-relevant” is still a disclosure decision — and if it is not recorded, it is often the hardest part of a DSAR or FOI response to defend later. Disclosed documents leave a trail. Excluded ones usually leave nothing.
Why Most DSAR Redaction Processes Fail Under Scrutiny
Most DSAR redaction processes fail under scrutiny for a single reason: the decisions behind the disclosure were never recorded in a form that can be explained later. The redacted bundle usually survives. The reasoning behind it usually does not.