As many of you know, May 25th marked the official launch of the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In fact, your inbox is likely still buried under a mountain of GDPR and privacy-related emails.

The GDPR has drummed up an overwhelming amount of attention and communication initiatives over the last few months for good reason – it marks the most significant update to data privacy regulation in over 20 years. Under GDPR guidelines, EU citizens have clear rights in regards to the collection and use of their personal data, and businesses that handle and process this data have increased responsibility to comply with data regulations.

At SnapEngage, we believe in upholding the principles of the GDPR for all of our users (regardless of where in the world they’re located). We’re also committed to making it easier for our clients to remain compliant with the GDPR.

Data privacy is a highly complex topic, with different requirements for each of our clients based on their location, visitor clientele, business area, legal obligations, and internal data handling practices. To support the broadest spectrum of our clients’ legal requirements, we have released a suite of tools for easier compliance with the GDPR and other data privacy laws.

New Features for Easier Compliance

Consent Checkbox Option

Do you need to request consent from your customers before they initiate a chat with your company? We now offer a checkbox option on the pre-chat and offline forms that can be configured with your preferred legal language to ask for the visitor’s consent.

New Data Deletion Tools

We’ve developed a new tool that allows admins with specific permissions to search for a visitor’s email address and delete their data from the Chat Logs. This is especially useful in cases where your website visitor has expressed their wish to opt-out again and have their personal data removed from your SnapEngage account.

New Data Retention Period Preferences

We’ve also created an Options tab setting where admins can control data retention period preferences. This setting helps admins ensure that personal data is erased after a specified amount of time. Every organization that handles and processes data has varied obligations under the GDPR and other data privacy regulations (such as HIPAA in the United States). Therefore, it’s important for SnapEngage admins to understand and select the appropriate data retention period for their organization. Admins can also continue to take advantage of the setting to delete all visitor data from SnapEngage immediately after it has been sent to the CRM or help desk that you’ve integrated with SnapEngage.

Upcoming Product Plans for Data Privacy

We’re currently planning a feature to automatically ask for the visitor’s consent in a proactive chat scenario (in which no pre-chat form was provided). When this feature is available, we’ll be sure to announce it on this blog and in our release notes. For a more detailed overview of recommended practices to help you comply with the GDPR, please consult this helpful guide. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact us!