TIME brings ease and automation to privacy requests with Ketch

TIME is a global media brand built on 100 years of unparalleled trust and authority, with an audience of more than 100 million people worldwide across our platforms. Created in 1923, TIME began as the first weekly news magazine: a digest of world events, for busy people to read. Today, TIME’s mission is to provide trusted guidance about the ideas and people who shape and improve the world. 

Challenge: Improve the efficiency of data subject requests workflows, from intake to fulfillment 

When TIME was founded 100+ years ago, concepts like digital privacy and data dignity didn’t exist. Today, the global media brand is leading the charge in omnichannel convergence of content and experiences. At TIME, respecting data privacy rights for an audience of 100 million people is part of the modernization story of an iconic brand.

One of the most complex, cross-functional privacy compliance requirements is the intake and fulfillment of a data subject request (DSR). 

From the consumer perspective, it’s a straightforward proposition: “I want X company to delete my data”, or “I want to know what data X company has on me.” From the business perspective, these requests trigger a complex, cross-functional fulfillment challenge to locate this personal data across systems and applications. 

TIME is no exception to this challenge. Depending on the type of request, DSR fulfillment involves multiple stakeholders and systems. Software can make DSR intake and fulfillment easier. Unfortunately, TIME’s legacy privacy software tool wasn’t doing the job: 

• The interface was clunky, making it difficult for DSR managers to build processes

• Automation of workflows was deemed possible, but cost-prohibitive

• Vendor technical support was difficult to pin down, leaving issues open without resolution

Adam Keephart, Senior Manager of Information Security for TIME, and his cross-disciplinary team, set out to find a better solution. 

Essential criteria for data privacy software 

The TIME cross-functional privacy team includes stakeholders across legal, information security, product, and engineering departments. Must-haves in a new platform included: 

Features and tools to make the team’s job easier

‍Across team members, use cases abounded for a better platform. The two DSR managers, one each to manage U.S. and international privacy requests, wanted an easier-to-use interface, with intuitive features for creating and customizing workflows. Product and engineering teams, with heavy core workloads and limited time for privacy needs, wanted low-code tools to reduce developer help required. In cases like these, the team wanted new tech to shoulder the workload.

Automation and integration with TIME systems

‍Adam wanted to partner with a platform that provided a foundation for the future, and that included automation. “We need to streamline our request process,” he said. “The ability to connect requests directly within data systems and apps is a game-changer for our team.” Depending on the type of request coming in, TIME wanted the ability to make specific routing choices to internal stakeholders. They needed a tool with customizable options for assigning workflow types and routing rules. ‍

Ability to keep pace with a changing regulatory landscape

‍Amidst constantly-changing U.S. state laws, including a new federal bill on the table (see: What is the American Privacy Rights Act?), Adam wanted technology to make responding to new regulatory requirements even easier. Customizable policy templates with low/no-code ability to make changes were a must-have. 

With these criteria in mind, Adam embarked on an evaluation of multiple software tools. The team ultimately selected Ketch. “Of the privacy software tools we evaluated, Ketch was the clear standout. No one could match the potential of their visual workflow builder for automating data subject requests.” 

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Solution: A customizable, intuitive privacy management tool 

In partnership with the Ketch customer success team, TIME wasted no time at all kicking off the implementation. Their purchase included Ketch consent management and DSR automation products. 

Consent management

Compliance with privacy laws is critical for TIME’s global operations. Ketch consent management simplifies compliance with a complex landscape of privacy laws:

Jurisdiction-aware banners for any privacy law, now and in the future

‍TIME operates globally. The Ketch platform includes policy templates for every major data law. With support from Ketch, Adam and team selected applicable templates, customized them according to TIME business and compliance requirements, and mapped those templates to new, privacy consent banners. After completing the easy, no-code banner design, TIME was serving location-specific banners to all visitors. They can roll out new policies and jurisdictions as their business expands. 

Connect people’s consent preferences to data in downstream systems

‍Using Ketch Integrations, TIME will be able to automatically send people’s consent signals to internal systems and external apps. Wherever personal data lives, Ketch attaches permissions so stakeholders can leverage that permissioned data confidently for business use cases. 

Data subject request automation

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"The Ketch privacy request workflow builder did more than streamline our processes–it enabled us to fundamentally redesign how we handle DSRs. With unparalleled options for task routing, system integration, and automation, Ketch presents us an opportunity to modernize our Privacy Program and position us for continued success as the privacy compliance and regulatory landscape evolves.”

Adam Keephart, Senior Manager of Information Security, TIME 

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With consent management deployed, the project team moved onto building and deploying DSR workflows to support an easier fulfillment process. The promise Adam saw in the early Ketch demos became a reality, as he and the TIME team started using the software. 

Drag-and-drop workflow builder

‍In early demos, Adam was impressed by the visual nature of building DSR workflows in Ketch. Ketch distinguishes itself from data privacy software competitors with its drag-and-drop workflow builder. With visual “tiles” representing tasks, stakeholders, systems, and actions, non-technical users can build workflows for receiving and fulfilling consumer privacy requests with incredible precision. This enables TIME stakeholders to design privacy workflows explicitly tailored to their operational needs, without requiring extensive support from product and engineering teams. 

Customized task routing

‍TIME assigns different stakeholders to manage different types of DSR processes: for example, U.S. vs. international. However, their legacy privacy software didn’t have options for customized routing and alerting. A flurry of email alerts would be sent to various stakeholders every time a request came in, regardless of their involvement. Using the Ketch workflow builder, TIME creates custom workflows based on the request type, and directs specific requests to respective business owners. Says Adam, “so many aspects of the new workflows manage themselves. It’s exactly what we envisioned for increasing stakeholder efficiency.”

Customer support

‍Transitioning to a new software platform can be challenging, but the Ketch customer success team made it a smooth experience for TIME. From onboarding checklists to an open Slack channel, the Ketch team’s ability to quickly answer any technical questions gave TIME the confidence that they’d selected the right partner. 

Result: Modernized privacy management, with a foundation for future automation

Adopting Ketch DSR automation and consent management solutions has been transformative for the cross-functional privacy team at TIME. From more efficient stakeholder processes to confidently addressing global privacy regulations, they’ve successfully moved from clunky legacy tech, to a platform that supports their data-driven journey towards automation and scale. 

What’s next? “Automation,” says Adam. “We have the right workflows in place. Now we want to integrate them with systems like BigQuery and Salesforce, for an end-to-end automated DSR fulfillment process. That will be a major time-saver.” 

This transformative impact to TIME privacy operations is just the beginning. As the team looks forward to fully integrating and automating their systems, they are setting a foundation for enabling permissioned data activation and mobilization throughout the business. For this iconic and storied brand, the journey towards respecting consumer data dignity is well underway. 

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