Anonymising Contact 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 the contact data for any other reason, it is easy to do so without affecting the referential integrity of your database.
1. Go to the Contact record of the individual in question. You can do this by either going to the Customer and selecting Links & Contacts to bring up a list of Contacts for that business or by selecting the arrow under Customers on the main menu bar and then choosing View Contacts.
2. Simply double-click the Contact to proceed to the Contact Detail screen.
3. To anonymise the data:
a. Overtype the entry in the First Name field to ‘ANON’
b. Overtype the entry in the Last Name field to ‘ANON’
c. Remove the entry in Initials with the backspace key
d. Remove the entry in Phone with the backspace key
e. Remove the entry in Mobile with the backspace key
f. Remove the entry in Fax with the backspace key
g. Remove the entry in Email with the backspace key
h. Change the Status in the top right-hand corner to ‘Inactive’
4. This will anonymise the Contact 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/
5. When you have finished, click the ‘Close’ button to save your changes and return you to the Contact List
6. If you plan on carrying out an initial audit of your Contact records and need assistance in anonymising multiple Contact records please contact the Support Desk and we will help you free of charge.
Implications
Anonymising the Contact Record in the manner described above has implications for the rest of the Protean database where Contact information is displayed.
For example, following anonymization, if you view a job where this individual was the selected Contact then instead of seeing their name on the Job you will see ANON ANON instead.
If you wish to discuss these implications further then please contact the support desk.