The General Data Protection Regulation introduced and reaffirmed a host of rights related to an individual’s personal data. Knowing about those rights is one thing but exercising them is something else entirely. A lack of structure or standardization in the process of filing requests frequently stifled individuals wishing to exercise these rights. Organizations processing these personal data were also often at a loss as to how to respond to these requests and which information (not) to include.
In response to the general sense of confusion faced by both legal and non-legal persons, the Belgian Data Protection Authority published a collection of template forms to facilitate the procedure. These templates were a welcome resource, but as a series of static documents they did little to guide users through the drafting process. They did not solve the problem of confusion among its intended audience.
The enterprising lawyers at Timelex saw the foundations of a solution that could solve this problem in this base material provided by the Data Protection Authority. Based on their prior experience advising on data subject rights under the GDPR, they started by shoring up the gaps that still existed in the base templates.
Armed with the base material provided by the DPA – now enhanced with their own expertise – Timelex set its internal LawVu Draft author to work.
“I had used LawVu Draft in the past to create a range of automated documents which we frequently provide to our clients. Things like privacy statements, data processing agreements, cookie notices, etc. I’ve really enjoyed finding new and exciting ways to make our knowledge available to clients. When the DPA templates were released, I was already looking at them through the ‘LawVu Draft lens’ and immediately saw the opportunity to improve the forms through LawVu Draft. Its simplicity in use made the generator a great success. We are very excited to be able to offer these automated solutions to our clients.”
Bernd Fiten, Attorney – Timelex
Through Fiten’s translation of the legal material to an automated format, Timelex created Rightso, a specialized tool to help individuals and companies navigate the complexities of exercising GDPR-granted rights. With the help of a simple set of questions, anyone can generate a GDPR request or response in either Dutch, French or English. Filing a tailored request or response becomes as easy as clicking a button.
As a firm specializing in data protection, processing these personal data in a compliant manner was a priority. The LawVu Draft team worked with Timelex to set up a unique instance of the software that generates all documents from within the browser, with no server contact needed. This means the LawVu Draft servers never process any of the personal data submitted by Rightso users.
Timelex continues to explore tailored legal solutions for its clients by leveraging its own expertise with LawVu Draft. In the future, the firm intends to continue analyzing opportunities to create legal products like Rightso, where it makes sense for clients. The firm is also offering its automation expertise to clients looking to engage the firm in their own automation projects.
“We are an ambitious law firm and are constantly striving to support our clients in the best way we can. LawVu Draft allows us to continue to fulfil these ambitions. Keeping pace with our clients’ evolving needs is an everyday challenge. Therefore, we try to think along with them to provide legal services in a way that is intuitive and clear. Offering legal solutions like our Rightso generator is a great example of how we put our clients’ needs first.”
Edwin Jacobs, Partner – Timelex
