Retrieve and Download Privacy Reports

Once data collection, curation, and approval processes are complete, the Privacy Portal compiles all discovered personal data records into a secure report file. For Access requests, privacy professionals need to retrieve these reports programmatically to securely distribute them to customers or archive them for auditing.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to programmatically check if a report is ready and download the completed privacy report using the Admin API.

In this article, you'll learn:

• Locate the report file endpoint for completed privacy requests
• Programmatically download compiled report assets and data bundles
• Save the binary stream as a secure file format (JSON/PDF)

Scenario

Your organization hosts a secure Customer Portal. When a customer’s data subject request is completed, you want to retrieve the generated personal data report automatically and publish it directly to the customer’s secure dashboard rather than sending it over unsecured email. Query and download the compiled report bundle programmatically.

---

1. Verifying Request Completion

You must verify that a request’s processingStage is COMPLETE or APPROVED before attempting to download the report file. If you query the report file endpoint for an active or open request that is still in the verification or collection phases, the server will return an error.

To check request status, use the Retrieve and Filter Privacy Requests endpoint to inspect the processingStage field:

{
  "id": "req_841203",
  "status": "APPROVED",
  "processingStage": "COMPLETE"
}

---

2. Retrieving the Report File

To download the compiled personal data report, execute a GET request against the report file endpoint.

HTTP Endpoint

GET /api/prm/{tenant}/requests/{requestId}/report/file

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
tenant	String	Yes	Your organization’s tenant slug.
requestId	String	Yes	The ID of the completed request (e.g., req_841203).

Request Headers

Include your programmatically generated key in the X-API-Key header (refer to the Authentication Guide on how to obtain this key):

X-API-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>
Accept: application/octet-stream

---

3. Code Examples

Select your preferred language to see how to download and stream compiled report zip files programmatically:

Python

import requests

url = "https://bigidprivacy.cloud/api/prm/my-tenant/requests/req_841203/report/file"
headers = {
    "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Accept": "application/octet-stream"
}

print("Retrieving report for request req_841203...")
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, stream=True)

if response.status_code == 200:
    with open("user_results_bundle.zip", "wb") as f:
        for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8192):
            f.write(chunk)
    print("Report downloaded successfully and saved as user_results_bundle.zip")
elif response.status_code == 403:
    print("Error: Request is not in a completed stage. Report is not ready.")
else:
    print(f"Failed to download report. HTTP Status: {response.status_code}")

JavaScript

const fs = require('fs');
const { Readable } = require('stream');

const url = 'https://bigidprivacy.cloud/api/prm/my-tenant/requests/req_841203/report/file';
const headers = {
  'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  'Accept': 'application/octet-stream'
};

async function downloadPrivacyReport(outputPath) {
  try {
    console.log('Retrieving report for request req_841203...');
    const response = await fetch(url, { headers });

    if (!response.ok) {
      if (response.status === 403) {
        console.error('Error: Request is not in a completed stage. Report is not ready.');
      } else {
        console.error(`Failed to download report. HTTP Status: ${response.status}`);
      }
      return;
    }

    const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
    const nodeStream = Readable.fromWeb(response.body);
    nodeStream.pipe(fileStream);

    fileStream.on('finish', () => {
      console.log(`Report downloaded successfully and saved to: ${outputPath}`);
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to download report:', error);
  }
}

downloadPrivacyReport('user_results_bundle.zip');

---

Handling Common Errors

If you attempt to retrieve the report of a request that has not been approved or is still active, the server will block the download.

Response (403 Forbidden):

{
  "message": "The privacy report for request req_841203 is not compiled yet.",
  "status": 403
}

Response (404 Not Found):

If no files or reports were compiled for this request:

{
  "message": "Report file not found for request req_841203",
  "status": 404
}