Search Guide

Hotseat offers 2 types of search: Fast and Pro. Fast search can answer simple queries within seconds, and Pro can handle more advanced queries within minutes.

We suggest to start your searches with the Fast mode, and when you feel the results to your query are lacking, switch to Pro.

Fast Mode

If you expect that the answer to your query is straightforward, Fast search should work well. Here’s an example:

Does a hospital have to appoint a data protection officer under the GDPR?

One of the documents Fast search finds contains a direct answer:

[…] processing health data, such as patient’s health records, should be considered as one of any hospital’s core activities and hospitals must therefore designate DPOs.

View the full, Fast search answer →

Fast search works best in situations where the answer to a query is directly stated in some document and doesn’t require much reasoning.

This search mode works by making topical associations between the query and the documents in the database. When you ask about hospitals and data protection officers, Fast search will find sources that mention these topics, but it may also find documents that talk about healthcare or doctors.

These associations are more complex than simple keyword matching, but they are not as sophisticated as the reasoning that Pro search can do.

Pro Mode

Pro search helps with more open-ended queries. One use case is when you’re trying to find information to support or oppose an argument:

Find arguments supporting and opposing the adequacy of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) for data transfer to third countries post-Schrems II ruling.

View the Pro search answer →

Pro search is smarter across the board and also understands instructions like “focus on court rulings.” It will help you exhaust a topic and is more likely to find relevant results. This mode uses reasoning to find the most relevant information. It can discover sources that are not directly related to the query, but still answer it in a non-obvious way.

Let’s consider this query:

Our company operates in Sweden, France and Poland. We send information about our employees from one country to another for things like payroll and job assignments. We’re considering expansion to Ukraine and hire people locally there. What are the main things we need to do to make sure we’re handling our employees’ personal information correctly across those countries?

View the Pro search answer →

The top result from Pro search is a document that talks about determining whether data processing is “likely to result in a high risk.” Even though the query doesn’t mention risk at all, Pro search identified that data transfers outside of the EU may require a risk assessment.

You can also depend on Pro search to test if any documents in the database can answer your query. If it doesn’t return any relevant results, it’s likely that the information you’re looking for isn’t covered by Hotseat.

Pro search is best in combination with Fast search. Start with Fast search, and when you need more information, switch to Pro.

Asking better questions

The way you ask a question influences the quality of search results. And the more context you add to your question, the better the answer will be. For example, if you want to know:

Can automated decision-making involve biometric data?

Hotseat search will work better if you include additional context about your situation:

My client would like to use biometric locks on the doors to their office. Employees would use their fingerprints to access the premises. Does the GDPR allow for using biometric data to make an automated decision to open office doors?

You may be used to Google-like search where it’s better to keep your query concise and only use a couple of keywords. Hotseat works better when you ask full, detailed questions.