A Request in Any Form

The organisation treats a request as valid however it is made, including verbally, and does not require it to use particular wording or to cite the law.

Criterion: A5
Level: Level 1
Domain: Finding and Making a Request
Reflects: Article 12(2)

Intent

Most people do not know the phrase subject access request. Someone who asks in plain words for a copy of their data has still made a request, and refusing it for its wording denies a valid one.

How to test it

An assessor scores the criterion against a single response:

Score 2: The organisation acts on a request whatever words it uses and however it arrives, including a verbal one.
Score 1: The organisation acts on written requests in any wording, but does not recognise verbal ones.
Score 0: The organisation acts only on requests that use set wording or carry a particular label.

The law it reflects

This criterion reflects Article 12(2) of the UK GDPR. That mapping is a guide, not a legal test: conformance is judged against the criterion, not the article.

See A5 in context in the full standard.