Anonymising Closed Customer Records

Anonymising Closed Customer Records

Please ensure you read the implications at the end of the article

If an individual requests that you remove their personal data from your database or if you wish to anonymise closed customer data where you have not carried out any transactions with the customer for a number of years it is easy to do so without affecting the referential integrity of your database.

1. Go to the Customer record in question. You can do this by either going to the Customer List and selecting ‘Closed’ on the ‘Status From’ filter or, if you know the alpha code of the Customer simply type it into the Customer account filter on the left. This will bring up a list of closed Customers or just the one in question if you have filtered by alpha code.

2. Simply double-click the Customer record in the list to proceed to the Customer Detail screen.

3. To anonymise the data:

a. Overtype the entry in the Name field to ‘ANON

c. Remove the entry in Street 1 with the backspace key

d. Remove the entry in Street 2 with the backspace key

e. Remove the entry in Town/City with the backspace key

f. Remove the entry in County with the backspace key

g. Remove the entry in Post Code with the backspace key

h. Remove the entry in Phone with the backspace key

i. Remove the entry in Fax with the backspace key

j. Remove the entry in Email with the backspace key

k. Remove the entry in Website with the backspace key

l. Remove the entry in Equipment Contact with the backspace key

m. Remove the entry in Accounts Contact with the backspace key

4. Click on the ‘Accounts’ tab.

5. Remove the entry in Email Address from the Invoicing section with the backspace key.

6. This will anonymise the Customer record. We are aware that Protean is a flexible tool and can be used in a number of different ways. Therefore, if you have stored personal data in other fields, for example but not limited to, the Memo tab, then you need to decide whether this too needs removing from the database. For further advice on what constitutes personal data please consult the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/

7. When you have finished, click the ‘Close’ button to save your changes and return you to the closed Customer List screen.

Implications

Anonymising the Customer Record in the manner described above has implications for the rest of the Protean database where Customer information is displayed.

For example, following anonymization, if you view a sales invoice where this customer was the recipient then instead of seeing their name on the invoice you will see ANON instead – although their internal account number will still be visible.

If you wish to discuss these implications further then please contact the support desk.

 

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