Removing a Constituent from CRM

Ruth Macfarlane

Hi my community friends!


I'm hoping that you can help me. So.....this doesn't happen often (first time since we moved to BBCRM 4 years ago!), but we have someone that wants us to remove them completely from CRM. I see in the "new features" guide that the following was added back in Service Pack 16:

Right to Be Forgotten Global Change

We have added a new global change to help you honor constituent requests to remove their history from your database. As part of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that affects constituents in the United Kingdom, constituents can request to have their entire history removed from your database. After you remove their record, you can run this global change to purge any data related to the constituent from your audit tables.

So, I get that we can run the Global Change.....but it talks about "After you remove their record". Exactly how do you do that as I cannot just delete the Constituent as they have revenue attached.


Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. 


Thanks! - Ruth

Lori Thompson

Hi Ruth!


Is there any chance you can delete the revenue or reassign it to Anonymous (first name) Donor (last name)?  In either case, you should be able to delete the Constituent record.  Good luck!


Lori

Ruth Macfarlane

Good idea Lori! My head just didn't quite get there. I'll try that. See if it gets me anywhere.


Thanks!

Chris Geady

Hey Ruth Macfarlane‍, we're talking about requests from constituents to have their record completely deleted from our BBCRM database.


Is the constituent requesting to be deleted from the UK, ie. is GDPR applicable to this constituent? If yes, that will be an interesting conversation to have with your Finance team and auditors if this constituent has made donations in the past 7 years.


If they're not from the UK and GDPR doesn't apply, then we would retain the constituent no matter what. Reasons:

1. We would retain any donation information for the past 7 years.

2. We would retain their mailing address and email address and mark their return to never solicit the constituent again. We want to make sure if we acquire their name again that we never communicate with the constituent.


I'm happy to chat offline if you'd like (chris.geady@redcross.ca if you're interested).


Cheers,

Chris

Ruth Macfarlane

Hi Chris Geady‍ 


Yes, the person wants to be completely removed from our BBCRM database. It is a request from a person in Canada, so no GDPR is applicable but I feel like that day is coming. Would certainly love to know how those that are dealing with GDPR are dealing with it.


Yes, I am in the midst of a conversation with my Finance team too about this issue. Plan B would be exactly what you have described IF there really is no way to delete them either because of system rules OR because of Revenue Canada/ Financial Auditor rules.


Thanks for your thoughts!


Ruth

Stacey Segal

Hi Ruth, 

This could be a good use for Constituent Security.  

If you created a constituent security group for "requested delete" or something like that, you could restrict everyone in the organization, except for finance and an Admin, from the record. 


The other challenge I was thinking about is if you totally remove someone, how would you know, in a year, let's say that you shouldn't contact them if you happened to acquire their name somehow again. 


I think the combination of restricting access and perhaps removing some data might be a way to go - keep what you need for an audit, secure the record and delete the rest? 


Stacey

Ruth Macfarlane

Love that idea Stacey! Thanks so much!