From 2.9 Million Documents to 416: Precision Scoping for a Complex DSAR

A former employee submitted a DSAR following their redundancy from a research role, alleging that legitimate health issues and related absences were unfairly considered in the redundancy decision. The request sought access to personal data related to the redundancy process and the performance assessments leading up to it.

The volume of data collected was substantial — almost 2.9 million documents were published in the workspace, driven by the data subject's generic name and involvement across multiple departments.

• Search Optimization: Targeted keyword refinement and document filtering strategies were applied to eliminate non-relevant materials, reducing the review population from 2.8 million to 34,228 documents.
• Workflow Analysis: Morae implemented additional analysis in the initial stages of the project, identifying potential junk or blast email populations for exclusion. These documents were technically in scope — they mentioned the data subject and matched other keywords — but could nevertheless be excluded from review.
• Validation and Exclusion: Targeted samples of excluded blast emails and junk were provided to the client for validation. 95% of documents proposed for exclusion were approved. The combination of targeted analysis and term amendments allowed for the exclusion of approximately 2.84 million documents.
• Targeted Review: Following exclusions, a focused review was conducted on personal information directly related to the request. Specialized tools and workflows further streamlined the process.
• Production: The final disclosure consisted of 416 documents, carefully vetted to ensure compliance with data protection laws and to adequately address the data subject's request.

Through refined search parameters, additional analysis, and the exclusion of irrelevant data, the review population was reduced by 80–95%, significantly reducing the client's costs. The DSAR was completed within the regulatory timeframe, balancing the client's need for cost-efficiency with full compliance. Despite the immense initial data volume and challenges posed by overly broad search terms, Morae delivered a cost-effective and defensible outcome.