Can I Request My Raw Personality Assessment Data?

Start with the decision behind your request

The useful question is not simply, “Can I get my raw data?” It is, “Which part of this assessment do I need in order to check, understand, or challenge the report?” You may want to verify that your answers were recorded correctly, understand why a report describes you in a particular way, keep a copy for your own records, or find out whether an employer used the result in a decision. Each purpose points to a slightly different request.

For example, if a report says you scored high on a broad trait, the report alone may not show whether the result came from your item responses, a transformed score, a comparison group, or an interpretive band. If you are checking a possible data error, ask for the responses and the resulting scores. If you are checking privacy, ask where the records came from, why they are processed, who received them, and how long they will be kept. If a selection decision is involved, ask separately for the decision record and the role of the assessment in that decision. A personality report is evidence about a measurement process, not a verdict about your identity.

What “raw” can mean in an assessment

Raw data is not a single universal field. In a typical self-report assessment, it may mean the answer recorded for each item, such as a selected response on a rating scale. It can also refer to an unstandardized total calculated from those responses. A standardized score is a transformed value placed on a common scale. A percentile rank describes the percentage of a defined comparison group who scored at or below a value. A band such as low, average, or high is an interpretation layered on top of a score.

These are different records. A request for “my raw score” might return a total but not the item-level responses. A request for “my assessment data and report” is clearer. Ask the organisation to state which of these it holds: item responses, omitted or unanswered items, raw totals, transformed scores, percentiles, facets, bands, narrative text, validity or response-style indicators, timestamps, and corrections. Do not assume that a percentile is stored beside your raw responses, or that a report’s label is a direct measurement. The provider should explain the terms it uses so you can tell recorded data from interpretation.

Who may hold the records

The organisation that gave you the report may not be the only organisation with relevant information. An assessment publisher may hold your item responses and scoring output. A platform may hold your account, consent record, and download history. An employer or coach may hold the report, administration notes, and communications about its use. A subcontracted testing service may process the data for another organisation. Send the request to the organisation that decides why the data is used, and copy or separately contact the service named in the privacy notice when the roles are unclear.

Your relationship with the organisation matters. A consumer taking a paid online test may use a privacy-rights request described in the provider’s policy. An employee or job applicant may need to contact the employer’s privacy, human-resources, or legal channel as well as the test vendor. A client in coaching may have a contract that identifies the controller or record holder. The fact that a report appears in your email does not prove that the sender owns every underlying record, and the fact that a vendor scored the test does not prove it can disclose an employer’s internal notes.

What an access request may include

A focused request can ask for more than a PDF report. Request a copy of the personal information connected with the assessment and name the relevant date, account, job application, or coaching engagement. Then list the records you want: your submitted answers; raw totals and any converted scores; percentiles, norms, facets, and bands; the report and earlier versions; scoring or interpretation notes applied to your result; administration date and assessor identity where applicable; sources of the data; purposes and legal basis for processing where the law requires that information; recipients or categories of recipients; retention period; and any automated profiling or decision that used the result.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office describes a subject access request as a request for a copy of personal information plus supplementary information about how it is used. Its guidance also says a request need not use a special phrase if it is clear that the person wants their own information. That is a useful practical model even where a different local law applies. This wording does not guarantee that every item exists or must be disclosed in every country. It does make the response easier to evaluate.

What may not be included

Access to your data is not automatically access to the organisation’s entire assessment system. The provider may not release the full item bank, answer key, scoring code, security controls, or another person’s information. A workplace response may redact colleagues’ names or notes that identify someone else. A test publisher may also argue that disclosure would compromise test security or protect a trade secret, although the legal treatment depends on the jurisdiction and the particular record.

A refusal should not be treated as a complete answer when only one part is restricted. Ask the organisation to provide the rest, identify the withheld categories, explain the reason, and point to the applicable exemption or policy. In a judgment summary, the Court of Justice of the European Union said that trade-secret and third-party interests must be balanced against the data subject’s access rights case by case. It also distinguished a meaningful explanation of how profiling worked from handing over a complex mathematical formula. That supports a proportionate request for the inputs used, the relevant process, and an understandable explanation, rather than a demand for source code.

How jurisdiction changes the route

The same assessment can produce different access routes for different readers. Under UK data-protection guidance, a subject access request can be verbal or written, normally must be answered without undue delay and within one month, and may be extended by up to two further months when it is complex. The organisation may ask for proportionate identity information and may rely on exemptions that must be considered for the specific request.

In the European Union, the GDPR provides a right of access to personal data and supplementary information, with additional rules for certain automated decision-making and profiling situations. In California, the Attorney General’s consumer guidance describes a right to know categories and specific pieces of personal information, sources, purposes, and categories of recipients for covered businesses, alongside rights to correct or delete data subject to exceptions. These examples are not a universal legal map. Check the provider’s privacy policy and the law that applies to you before relying on a deadline, remedy, or named request type.

A request you can send

Write to the privacy contact named in the privacy policy. Keep the request specific enough to identify the assessment but broad enough to cover the records behind the report. You can adapt this wording:

“I am requesting access to the personal information held about me in connection with [assessment name or date]. Please provide my recorded item responses; raw and transformed scores; percentile, norm, facet, band, and narrative outputs; any response-style or validity indicators; the report and prior versions; the date and method of administration; the purposes and sources of processing; recipients; retention information; and any automated profiling or decision that used these records. Please explain any terms needed to understand the data. If you withhold any item, please identify the category withheld, the reason or exemption relied on, and provide the remainder where possible. I can provide reasonable information to verify my identity through your designated process.”

Keep a copy of the message, the date sent, the response, and any follow-up. Do not send more identity information than the organisation reasonably needs. If the assessment was taken through an employer or coach, send a parallel question asking who is responsible for the underlying records and whether the result was shared or used in a decision.

How to read the reply

When the response arrives, make a simple four-column table: record supplied, what it means, what is missing, and what decision it could affect. Put an item response, a raw total, a percentile, and a narrative band on separate rows. Check whether the report identifies the instrument, scoring date, comparison group, and intended use. If it gives a percentile, look for the population and date behind the comparison. If it gives a band, ask how the boundary was chosen. If it gives a high or low result, do not translate that into a good or bad quality without a defined purpose.

Then compare the data with the report. A mismatch might be a transcription error, a different version of the instrument, a missing answer rule, a transformation not explained in the report, or a result produced from records held elsewhere. It might also be a normal difference between a raw score and a standardized interpretation. Ask the provider to reconcile the specific mismatch rather than asking whether the entire assessment is “true.” Reliability concerns how consistently a measure behaves under specified conditions; validity concerns whether the intended interpretation is supported for a stated purpose. One does not replace the other.

Turn access into a proportionate next step

The best outcome of a data request is not necessarily a longer report. It is a clearer decision about what the result can support. For private reflection, use the supplied responses and interpretation as prompts for observable examples, not as proof that a label defines you. In coaching, ask which part of the report will inform a concrete goal and what other evidence will be considered. In employment, ask whether the assessment was a screening input, one part of a broader review, or a decision rule, and do not infer job ability from a personality score alone. A general personality assessment is not a clinical diagnosis.

If the response is incomplete, ask one precise follow-up: “Which records were searched, which were withheld, and which organisation holds the missing item?” If the organisation denies the request, use the complaint or review route named in the applicable privacy notice or regulator guidance. Before escalating, make sure the request identifies the right organisation, date, and assessment. The practical standard is simple: you should be able to tell what was recorded, how it was transformed, who used it, and which uncertainty still matters.

Questions readers ask