Case Study

Academy of Art University

The largest private art and design university in the United States, Academy of Art University has over 130 programs serving approximately 10,000 students from 112 countries, both in-person in California and online.

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Challenges

Inefficient Student Data Request Management

Previously, students and prospective students would email a general inbox with their data request and a designated person managed the follow up process via email, routing to the appropriate people via email. “That became really cumbersome,” explains the Senior Director of IT Applications.

Multiple Systems Storing Student Data

Student and prospective student data resides in Salesforce.com, Pardot, student and campus applications, among other IT systems. Some of the key systems are difficult to access.

Order Of Deletion Is Critical

Systems pass data back and forth, which made it challenging to ensure data was fully removed when students and prospects made a deletion request. If data isn’t deleted in the proper order, the data is repopulated. Additional oversight was needed to ensure data was deleted in proper order, so the data would not repopulate.

Solutions

Academy of Art University partnered with WireWheel to create a secure, automated DSAR process.

Privacy Center accepts Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR)

The Academy’s branded privacy center allows for different types of requests. All consumers can make deletion requests and request to opt-out of unsolicited communications. California and European residents can make access requests.

Requestor Verification Improves Security

Before taking action on a request, the Academy team wants to feel secure that requestors are who are who they say they are.

Access requests in particular require a secure way to identify the requestor because they are releasing personal information. WireWheel’s options for verification were one of the key reasons WireWheel was chosen. “We make sure that three pieces of information match what we have in our records, and we have the signed affidavit,” the Director of Data Privacy and State Authorization explains.

Notifications and Conditional Logic Streamline Workflow

Assignments with due dates make sure requests are responded to in a timely manner. “There’s not as much back and forth,” the Director of Data Privacy and State Authorization explains. “Everyone’s really busy and on different teams. Now, you know you’re only going to be contacted when you need to be contacted, and it’s all right there.”

The team has configured the workflow to make sure that actions are taken in the correct order. “We now have a workflow to manage requests in a particular order with specific timelines. We give people a window to complete their tasks. WireWheel’s conditional workflow helps things flow a lot better and make it work for us,” the Senior Director of IT Applications reports.

"I like how WireWheel is organized. I can find things when I need to. I like how easy it was to set up without a lot of technical knowledge. A user can pick it up easily."

Senior Director of IT Applications, Academy of Art University

"I haven’t had the level of support from any other vendor as I have had from WireWheel. I appreciate that."