NOYB report shows 83.5% of SARs are not properly answered

An analysis by the Austrian privacy and digital rights advocacy group NOYB found that only 16.5% of subject access requests (SARs) submitted to companies over the past eight years received a satisfactory response. Following a study of 121 cases, NOYB found that 53.7% of replies were incomplete, while nearly 30% were ignored entirely. The findings suggest that 83.5% of requests did not comply with the law, even among big tech firms using automated tools.

The report arrives as the European Commission considers its Digital Omnibus proposals, which aim to restrict the right of access to specific data protection purposes. Under these changes, employers could reject requests deemed abusive, such as an employee seeking work records during a labour dispute. 

However, NOYB honorary chair Max Schrems argues the primary issue is corporate non-compliance rather than consumer abuse. The analysis suggests that further legal restrictions would weaken the rights of millions of Europeans, particularly those without legal representation. 

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