What is the right to access personal data?

The right to access (also known as Subject Access Right) is a fundamental data subject right under GDPR Article 15 that allows individuals to obtain confirmation of whether their personal data is being processed and, if so, to access that data along with supplementary information. For email marketers, this means subscribers can request a complete copy of all personal data you hold about them-email addresses, names, preferences, engagement history, consent records, segmentation assignments, and any other information connected to their identity.

When someone exercises their right to access, you must provide: confirmation that you're processing their data; a copy of the personal data itself; information about the purposes of processing, categories of data, and recipients; retention periods or criteria for determining them; information about their other rights (rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, complaint to supervisory authority); the source of the data if not collected directly from them; and information about any automated decision-making or profiling. This must be provided in a clear, accessible format within the required timeframes.

The right to access serves as a transparency mechanism that enables individuals to understand and verify how their data is being used. It's often the first step before exercising other rights-someone might request access to understand what you hold before deciding whether to request correction or deletion. For email marketers, having robust data retrieval capabilities across all systems (ESP, CRM, analytics) is essential for responding to access requests efficiently and completely. The right to access is the foundation of data subject control. It ulets people see what organizations know about them and how that knowledge is being used.