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Rights requests: spotting them and responding within the deadline

A rights request has no required form: written or spoken, it starts the deadline running from the moment it is received. The standard is one month, extendable by two months if the request is complex or if requests are numerous, provided the person is informed within the first month, with reasons. Verifying identity is mandatory, but proportionate. Holding nothing about the person does not authorise silence.

  • Written by Skillrung team
  • Review by a subject-matter expert under way
  • Updated on
Read the first 4 slides, freePlay the Discovery quiz, free

What is this course about?

Spot a rights request as soon as it arrives, get it moving the same day, and respond within the deadline without improvising.

This is a core course: the material taught is the same for everyone, only the examples, the tools mentioned and the people you deal with change with your job. It has 3 sections, of which 1 section is followed by a quiz, and reads in 20-30 min. The legal framework cited is French law.

The request is already here, and so is the deadline

Someone asks for what you hold about them. No registered letter, no legal vocabulary: a message, a form, sometimes a sentence said in passing at your structure. Nothing signals that something has just begun. The deadline, though, has been running since that minute. Spotting it and saying so the same day takes no legal expertise: that is the skill this course teaches.

Key points

What you do as soon as it arrives

Four steps, in order, from the moment the request arrives.

  • Write down the date it arrived and what the person is asking for
  • Pass the request on the same day, without sitting on it
  • Ask for a reasonable element that removes the doubt
  • Keep a dated log, from receipt to reply

What you will be able to do

  • Recognise a rights request and know what to do with it the same day.
  • Identify a rights request and respond to it within the legal deadline.
  • Build the tracking of rights requests into your working week.

The first 4 slides, free

What you read with no account and no card. Here, the generic version; in the player, the examples take the vocabulary of your job.

Try it, before you even create an account

Choose a job: the passage below is rewritten straight away. Nothing is saved, and no extra content opens.

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Generic version
Someone asks for what you hold about them. No registered letter, no legal vocabulary: a message, a form, sometimes a sentence said in passing at your structure. Nothing signals that something has just begun. The deadline, though, has been running since that minute. Spotting it and saying so the same day takes no legal expertise: that is the skill this course teaches.

Real extract from the free slide “The request is already here, and so is the deadline” of this course.

  1. FreeSlide 1 of 13 · Spot the request before thinking about the answer

    The request is already here, and so is the deadline

    Someone asks for what you hold about them. No registered letter, no legal vocabulary: a message, a form, sometimes a sentence said in passing at your structure. Nothing signals that something has just begun. The deadline, though, has been running since that minute. Spotting it and saying so the same day takes no legal expertise: that is the skill this course teaches.

  2. FreeSlide 2 of 13 · Spot the request before thinking about the answer

    What you will do without hesitating

    • Recognise a rights request, whatever channel it arrives by
    • Start the dated log as soon as it is received
    • Respond within the deadline after a proportionate verification
  3. FreeSlide 3 of 13 · Spot the request before thinking about the answer

    What you do as soon as it arrives

    Four steps, in order, from the moment the request arrives.

    • Write down the date it arrived and what the person is asking for
    • Pass the request on the same day, without sitting on it
    • Ask for a reasonable element that removes the doubt
    • Keep a dated log, from receipt to reply
  4. FreeSlide 4 of 13 · Spot the request before thinking about the answer

    Where do you stand?

    One question, with no score and no judgement, to see where your reflex stands: what would you do if the request arrived this morning?

    1 short questions, marked immediately, inside the course.

These 4 slides can be read in the player, with no account and no card.

Read the first slide

Programme

3 sections, 13 slides and 4 quizzes in total. Each content section ends with a quiz that checks it has been learned.

  1. IntroductionFree

    Spot the request before thinking about the answer

    Recognise a rights request and know what to do with it the same day.

    • 4 slides
  2. SectionSubscribers

    Data subject rights and how to respond to them

    Identify a rights request and respond to it within the legal deadline.

    • 7 slides
    • Section quiz: 5 questions
  3. RecapSubscribers

    Your action plan

    Build the tracking of rights requests into your working week.

    • 2 slides

9 slides are for subscribers

The first four slides of this course can be read without an account and without a bank card. From the fifth on, the €29.99/month incl. VAT subscription is needed. The Beginner level quiz, though, stays free: it measures your level without asking you for anything.

Subscribe, €29.99/month incl. VATPlay the Discovery quiz, free

How your level is measured

  • Beginner
    Questions drawn
    10
    Pass mark
    70 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 30
    Time limit
    20 min

    Free, no account and no subscription.

  • Intermediate
    Questions drawn
    12
    Pass mark
    75 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 36
    Time limit
    24 min

    Subscribers only, once the Beginner level is passed.

  • Expert
    Questions drawn
    15
    Pass mark
    80 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 45
    Time limit
    30 min

    Subscribers only, once the Intermediate level is passed.

The level shown for a course is the highest level you have passed, with your best score and its date. Questions are drawn at random on every attempt. Play the Beginner quiz for this course or read how we measure your level.

Which jobs is it for?

Common core: the examples change with your job, what is taught stays the same. It addresses all 58 jobs in the directory. See courses by job.

Frequently asked questions

How do you recognise a rights request when it is not called one?

Do not look for legal wording. Someone who asks for their data, for a copy of their file, for the correction of inaccurate information or for the erasure of what you keep is exercising a right, whatever the channel used: reception, contact form, message, spoken word. No form is required. Note the date and the subject, then pass the request on the same day.

Must you ask for an identity document before disclosing a file?

The requester's identity must be verified: that is mandatory. But the verification must stay proportionate to the request. A reasonable element that removes the doubt is enough, provided you explain to the person why you are asking for it. Demanding a full identity document as a matter of course, when another element would do, is not the right answer. While you wait for that element, the deadline is suspended.

We hold nothing about the person: do we still have to reply?

Yes. Holding nothing about someone does not excuse you from replying: that is exactly the information they expect from you. Staying silent, on the other hand, reads as a refusal. The case looks harmless, but it is handled like any other: note the request, pass it on the same day, and tell the person where things stand.

What can I read without a subscription?

The first four slides of every course are available without an account and without a subscription, as is the Beginner level quiz. From the fifth slide onwards, the €29.99/month incl. VAT subscription is required. Creating a free account unlocks no extra slide: it keeps your progress, your job and your results.

How is my level measured?

By three level quizzes: Beginner (10 questions, 70 % to pass), Intermediate (12 questions, 75 %) and Expert (15 questions, 80 %). The level shown is the highest level passed, with the best score obtained and its date.

Who writes and who reviews this course

  • Skillrung team

    Editorial team of skillrung.com

    The skillrung editorial team writes the courses from the publications of the French and European authorities: ANSSI, CNIL, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, Légifrance and EUR-Lex. Every figure is tied to its primary source, dated and verifiable from the course page. The team does not stand in for an expert reviewer: every course intended for publication is reviewed by a named professional of the field concerned, whose name and review date appear on the course page.

Artificial intelligence assisted the drafting. Editorial responsibility for the published text remains human.

Statements with regulatory scope verified on .

Sources

Every figure stated in this course points to a primary source, dated and verifiable.

  1. Règlement (UE) 2016/679 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 27 avril 2016 (RGPD)

    EUR-Lex, Union européenne, published on

  2. Le registre des activités de traitement

    CNIL, published on

  3. Les bases légales d'un traitement de données personnelles

    CNIL, published on

  4. Les durées de conservation des données

    CNIL, published on

  5. Professionnels : comment répondre à une demande de droit d'accès ?

    CNIL, published on

  6. Travailler avec un sous-traitant

    CNIL, published on

  7. Notifier une violation de données personnelles

    CNIL, published on

  8. Transférer des données hors de l'Union européenne

    CNIL, published on

What Skillrung is not

  • Skillrung is not a French training body certified under the Qualiopi scheme.
  • As things stand, our content is not eligible for the French CPF, OPCO, DPC or FAF funding schemes.
  • A Skillrung certificate of completion is not a diploma, not a professional title and not a qualification registered in any national register. It records a result obtained in an unsupervised online assessment, on a given date.
  • Taking a Skillrung course does not make your organisation compliant and does not replace the obligations that fall on your employer or on you.
  • Our content is educational. It is neither legal advice, nor medical advice, nor a security audit.
  • For a self-employed professional or a company, the subscription is a deductible business expense : confirm this with your accountant.

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