Subject Access Request

To effectively handle subject access requests (SARs), you are tasked to define a reusable custom GLASS data type that can identify all locations across your organization's data storage platforms that contain data pertaining to a specific individual, Clark Kent.

Data Type Requirements

1. Search case-insensitively for the full name Clark Kent.
2. The subject's full name format could be the first name followed by the last name, or last name followed by the first name.
3. The first name and last name can be joined by the tab \t, whitespace  , comma ,, or pipe | character, and should be matched across line breaks.
4. The subject's full name can be bounded by any character except ASCII letters.

Part 1 - Namespace for First and Last Name

In Part 1, we use the MAP operator to declare separate namespaces for the subject's first name and last name.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

See MAP Namespace for more information.

Part 2 - First Name Followed by Last Name

In Part 2, we define the base expression that searches for the first name followed by (THEN) the last name of the subject.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' THEN \
GROUP 'LAST_NAME'

See GROUP and THEN and OR for more information.

Part 3 - Adding the Separator Between the First Name and Last Name

In Part 3, we add on the GLASS expression for the range of possible characters that join the subject's first name and last name.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' THEN \
RANGE ' ,|\t\r\n\f\v' TIMES 1-5 THEN \
GROUP 'LAST_NAME'

Using the TIMES option for the RANGE operator will allow the following lines to be returned as matches:

Part 4 - Boundary Rules

In Part 4, we address Requirement #4 by adding boundary rules for the anchor pattern. Using the BOUND operator, we can reduce the number of potential false positive matches by only reporting first name, last name matches if they are surrounded by non-alphanumeric (NONALNUM) characters.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

(GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' BOUND LEFT NONALNUM) THEN \
(RANGE ' ,|\t\r\n\f\v' TIMES 1-5) THEN \
(GROUP 'LAST_NAME' BOUND RIGHT NONALNUM)

See BOUND and Preset Keywords for more information.

Part 5 - Defining the First Name, Last Name Pattern using ALIAS

In Part 5, we define an ALIAS for the expression in Part 4.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

# SAR search - first name followed by last name
ALIAS 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_1' \
  (GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' BOUND LEFT NONALNUM) THEN \
  (RANGE ' ,|\t\r\n\f\v' TIMES 1-5) THEN \
  (GROUP 'LAST_NAME' BOUND RIGHT NONALNUM)

REFER 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_1'

See ALIAS and REFER for more information.

Part 6 - Defining the Last Name, First Name Pattern using ALIAS

In Part 6, we define a similar ALIAS as Part 5 but for the last name, first name sequence instead.

We join both ALIAS expressions using the OR operator so that either sequence will match.

MAP NOCASE 'FIRST_NAME' 'clark'
MAP NOCASE 'LAST_NAME' 'kent'

# SAR search - first name followed by last name
ALIAS 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_1' \
  (GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' BOUND LEFT NONALNUM) THEN \
  (RANGE ' ,|\t\r\n\f\v' TIMES 1-5) THEN \
  (GROUP 'LAST_NAME' BOUND RIGHT NONALNUM)

# SAR search - last name followed by first name
ALIAS 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_2' \
  (GROUP 'LAST_NAME' BOUND LEFT NONALNUM) THEN \
  (RANGE ' ,|\t\r\n\f\v' TIMES 1-5) THEN \
  (GROUP 'FIRST_NAME' BOUND RIGHT NONALNUM)

REFER 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_1' OR REFER 'SAR_NAME_ENGLISH_SEQ_2'

Match Samples

Based on the GLASS expression in Part 6, line 1 and line 2 will be returned as match locations by the GLASS pattern matching engine.

Line 3 and line 4 will be returned as a single match as (Kent\nClark) as the expression in Part 3 accounts for last name and first name matches across line breaks.