COMMENTARY: Data Subject Requests (DSRs) are quickly becoming one of the most painful parts of data privacy compliance. They are messy, time-consuming, and only getting more complex as laws evolve. But that’s exactly where MSPs have an opening. As Gal Ringel, CEO & Co-Founder, MineOS points out, the channel is in a great position to turn this challenge into a service opportunity. With the right mix of automation and tailored integration, MSPs can take DSR management off their customers’ plates and handle it more efficiently. It’s not just about ticking compliance boxes. It’s a chance to offer real value, especially as privacy, risk, and governance keep converging into one big, messy stack.
Enterprises integrate their data privacy, governance and risk functions into one consolidated stack, so why should they not expect the same from their service providers? The data privacy industry has historically been slow to innovate around no-code automation, but the channel is in a key position to set a new course with data privacy management.
What are DSRs and Why are They Burdensome?
Approximately 1-2 billion people globally have some form of legally recognized data rights. This is due in part to a slew of data privacy laws passed in the last two years, all of which have their own unique jurisdictional requirements -- state by state and country by country. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provide data rights to 39 million individuals – yet these are only three of the hundreds of data privacy regulations in effect.
As more consumers become aware of these rights, the number of Data Subject Requests (DSRs) is escalating rapidly. DSRs are made when a consumer exercises their right to request information about the personal data a company holds about them and how that information is stored, processed and transmitted.
According to Gartner, the average organization received 292 DSRs per million data subjects in 2024 — a 50% increase from 2021. Data privacy requests volume and complexities have nearly tripled since 2020. That is not just a matter of scale; it's compounded by the growing complexity of corporate data ecosystems. The tech stack is increasingly complicated by very high levels of sensitive information and thousands of requests for that information.
Fulfilling even a single DSR can mean querying hundreds of enterprise data sources across multiple platforms. The result? A complicated and mounting burden for enterprise IT and compliance teams – and an enormous opportunity for MSPs.
The Hidden Cost of DSR Mismanagement
Poorly handled DSRs are more than a compliance risk – they are a reputational and operational liability. A delayed or incomplete response can lead to fines, audits, or even lawsuits. But the cost of compliance isn’t small either: manual processes are expensive, slow, and error prone.
Fulfilling DSRs is one of the most time-consuming data obligations for IT and/or privacy teams. It involves searching through hundreds of data sources and systems to locate and clean data. It could take
two or more weeks to respond to a single request, according to Gartner.
But as global, national and local data privacy and protection regulations increase, enterprises are mandated to comply and fulfill these requests. This surging stream of DSRs hits an already complex business data environment where IT is simultaneously contending with various governance programs, data systems and privacy policies, resulting in one more compliance headache.
How can MSPs help?
A channel-based approach to DSR management offers significant value for customers that prefer not to handle the requests internally. By leveraging DSR management as a service, customers can more easily navigate the complex landscape of privacy compliance—including regulations related to AI-generated data. Managed Service Providers MSPs can deliver tailored DSR solutions that integrate seamlessly with each customer’s unique data stack and organizational requirements.
This approach empowers customers with greater flexibility while ensuring that compliance obligations are met across a wide range of data handling scenarios. Automation, customized integration and a bold new approach to data privacy are advancing these solutions to be more accurate and efficient.
Since the new tech stack requires that integrations be up to date and customized, MSPs should focus on the quantity of DSR integrations including the quality of those integrations. Both are entirely possible thanks to new no-code automated solutions that enable fully customized integrations of any backend system platform or SaaS applications.
There is an entirely new methodology for connecting APIs for the purpose of truly effortless DSR automation. The new paradigm includes customized rights flow by geography, customized workflows, and other ease of no-code automation features. These all-in-one data governance and privacy capabilities enable organizations to build-in DSRs via the channel.
The Future of Privacy can be Powered by the Channel
Enterprises shouldn’t be expected to develop privacy programs from scratch. They will be looking to trusted service providers for integration capabilities to manage their DSRs. MSPs that step up to offer seamless DSR management will set themselves apart in a crowded market. After all, compliance as a service should be intelligent, integrated, and invisible. The tools are ready, the need is urgent, and the time to lead is now.
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