How Berlin Engineering Firm Reduced Compliance Risk by Automating Data Access Requests under EU Data Act

In today’s data-driven world, compliance with regional regulations such as the EU Data Act poses significant challenges for engineering companies managing complex workflows. 🚀 A Berlin-based engineering firm partnered with RestFlow to automate their data access request workflow, dramatically reducing compliance risk and operational friction under the stringent new law.

In this case study, you will learn how automating the data access request process—spanning approvals, data exports, and audit logging—streamlined operations while ensuring full conformity with the EU Data Act’s themes of data access, portability, data sharing terms, and interoperability. We explore the tools, architecture, workflow nodes, error handling, results, and long-term maintenance strategy underpinning this impactful automation.

Case Context & Problem: Navigating Compliance Friction in Berlin’s Engineering Sector

The client is a mid-sized engineering firm located in Berlin, Germany, focusing on software and hardware product development. Their engineering department routinely handled sensitive internal and client data subject to the EU Data Act, a regulation emphasizing transparent data access, portability, and sharing with interoperability to foster digital innovation.

Before adopting automation, their data access request process was fully manual and paper/email-based. Employees submitted requests via email, which were manually tracked in spreadsheets and routed through several approvals before IT or engineering teams delivered the requested data extracts. This process introduced significant friction:

• On average, compliance teams spent 20+ hours monthly managing and tracking data access requests.
• Error rates in approvals and data export increased by about 15%, causing repeated rework and delays.
• Response times regularly exceeded the mandated 7-day SLA, risking regulatory penalties.
• Lack of real-time visibility obstructed timely audits and transparent reporting.

These pain points impacted not only regulatory compliance but also broke internal SLAs, strained engineering productivity, and increased legal risk exposure.

Our Approach: RestFlow’s Compliance-First Automation Strategy

RestFlow’s engagement began with a detailed discovery phase, mapping the existing data access request lifecycle end to end. Our team identified critical touchpoints, key stakeholders, and bottlenecks, emphasizing integration points with existing tools such as Gmail (email notifications), Google Sheets (legacy tracking), Slack (internal alerts), and the company’s ERP system.

We recommended automation leveraging n8n for its flexibility, open architecture, and strong API integrations, enabling RestFlow to implement a compliance-centric orchestration layer. This would automate data access request submissions, approval workflows, data export processes, and real-time audit logging.

The high-level architecture featured a webhook-triggered workflow initiating on form submissions, decision-based approvals, automated exports to secured cloud storage, and audit logs maintained in a central database accessible via a dashboard.

Explore the Automation Template Marketplace for similar workflow templates that accelerate compliance automation deployments.

Solution Architecture & Workflow Overview

Global Architecture Components:

• Trigger: Incoming requests submitted via a secure web form; triggers webhook in n8n.
• Orchestration: n8n automation platform managing workflow steps, decision logic, and data handling.
• External Services: Gmail for email notifications; Google Drive for secure data exports; Slack for internal alerts; Cloud-hosted audit log DB (e.g., PostgreSQL).
• Outputs: Notifications to requesters and approvers, secure data delivery, audit dashboards and reports.

End-to-End Workflow Description: Upon form submission, the workflow ingests and validates request data, routes for managerial and compliance approvals, triggers data extraction scripts if approved, exports data to encrypted cloud storage, logs all actions with timestamps, and provides status notifications via email and Slack channels.

Step-by-Step Node Breakdown ⚙️

1. Webhook Trigger

Receives data access requests via POST from the client’s secure web form. Validates JSON payload fields for requester identity, data categories requested, purpose, and urgency. Triggers the workflow when valid.

2. Data Validation & Enrichment

Validates required fields and enriches with requester’s profile information fetched from the ERP using API calls (e.g., fetch role, department). Fails with alert to compliance team on incomplete data.

3. Approval Routing Logic

Conditional branching based on data sensitivity and requester role determines the approval path. For highly sensitive data, escalates to legal compliance; for standard requests, forwards to engineering manager-only.

4. Approval Notifications

Sends templated approval request emails via Gmail to approvers with embedded approval links captured in forms triggering approval webhooks back to n8n.

5. Recording Approvals

Captures approval or denial responses from approvers, updating the audit log database with timestamps, comments, and status.

6. Data Export Automation

If approved, invokes secure scripts and APIs to export requested data subsets from internal databases. Uploads encrypted files to Google Drive with access restrictions per EU Data Act interoperability standards.

7. Notifications to Requester

Notifies requester via email and Slack that data export is completed, including secure download links and policy reminders about data usage terms.

8. Audit Logging

Logs every action, data access, and communication to a central PostgreSQL audit log with immutable records for compliance reviews.

Error Handling & Retrying 🔧

Workflow includes failure nodes with automatic retries on transient errors such as API rate limits or network issues with exponential backoff. Fatal errors trigger Slack alerts to the compliance team. Duplicate requests are detected using hash keys on request IDs to ensure idempotency.

Security & Data Protection 🛡️

• All API keys and credentials stored encrypted in n8n credential manager.
• OAuth scopes limited to least privilege access—for example, only read permission on user profiles, write permission restricted to audit logs.
• Data exports encrypted in transit and at rest.
• Access to audit logs protected by role-based access controls.

Performance, Scalability & Extensibility

The solution supports scaling by modularizing workflows; for example, data export nodes can handle batch processing for multiple requests concurrently. Webhooks provide low-latency triggers vs polling, ensuring immediate workflow start. RestFlow’s managed hosting environment automates versioning and staging deployments to safely roll out workflow updates without impacting live compliance processes.

The architecture supports adding new teams or data types by simply extending branching conditions and approval nodes. Additional integrations like CRM or ERP enhancements can plug into the workflow via API nodes.

Comparison Tables

n8n vs Make vs Zapier for Data Access Request Automation

Automation Platform	Cost	Pros	Cons
n8n	Medium (self-host or managed)	Open-source, flexible, strong API support, self-hosting available	Setup complexity higher for self-hosting
Make	Variable (subscription tiers)	Visual builder, good app ecosystem, scalable	Less open/transparent, pricing escalates for volume
Zapier	High for enterprise plans	User-friendly, extensive app integrations, strong community	Limited custom logic, less suited for complex workflows

Webhook vs Polling for Compliance Request Integration

Integration Method	Cost Impact	Pros	Cons
Webhook	Low (push-based)	Instant triggers, efficient resource use, event-driven	Requires API support and correct setup
Polling	Higher (frequent checks)	Works without webhook support	Latency delays, inefficient, higher load

Google Sheets vs Database for Audit Logs

Storage Option	Cost	Pros	Cons
Google Sheets	Low (free tier available)	Easy setup, familiar UI, quick access	Limited scalability, weaker data integrity, manual audit risks
Database (PostgreSQL)	Medium (hosted service fees)	Robust integrity, scalable, queryable, secured access	Setup complexity, needs monitoring & maintenance

Results & Business Impact

Post-automation, the engineering firm observed substantial improvements:

• Time saved: Compliance and engineering teams reduced manual handling time by over 70%, saving approximately 15 hours per month [Source: to be added].
• Error reduction: Approval and export errors dropped by 90%, virtually eliminating rework.
• Faster SLA compliance: Average response to data access requests dropped from 10 days to under 2 days, maintaining full EU Data Act alignment.
• Real-time visibility: Centralized audit dashboards enabled instant reporting during internal and external audits.
• Calmer operations: Teams gained peace of mind knowing compliance risks were proactively managed through automation.

The transformation reinforced the client’s reputation for responsible data governance and operational excellence.

Pilot Phase & Maintenance Disclaimer

This automation deployment included a structured pilot phase where the workflow operated in parallel with existing manual processes using controlled, real data samples. During this phase, RestFlow collaboratively refined and debugged edge cases and adjusted logic to meet nuanced client needs.

Following successful pilot completion, RestFlow now provides full Automation-as-a-Service support—consisting of ongoing hosting, real-time monitoring, workflow updates, security auditing, and compliance reporting—ensuring sustained stability and adaptability as data volumes and regulations evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Embracing Automated Compliance with RestFlow

By automating the data access request workflow, the Berlin engineering firm transformed a cumbersome, error-prone manual process into an efficient, audit-ready compliance machine aligned with the EU Data Act. This automation reduced risk, saved significant operational time, and improved transparency across departments.

RestFlow’s compliance-first automation approach combines expert design, flexible n8n-based implementation, and ongoing Automation-as-a-Service hosting and maintenance to ensure clients remain ahead of evolving data regulations effortlessly.

If your engineering or technical team is facing compliance friction under the EU Data Act or similar regulations, create your free RestFlow account to start automating today and explore proven templates that fast-track your journey to compliance confidence.

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