“Let’s build the perfect user experience for your consumers to submit a DSR. This will serve both you and them in the long run. 

[Review Your Channels] 

We’ll begin by auditing your current DSR submission channels from a user perspective. 

Do you have a dedicated privacy form on your website? If so, how easy is it to find and use? Does it work? Test it.

How do users submit requests if you don’t have a website form? Do you only receive them by email as free text? What email do you use to process these requests? Is it a privacy-specific email address or a general support address?

While it may be tempting to bury your channels, making them hard for users to find and fill out, this will only hurt you and your users. 

From a user-experience perspective, website forms are often the most seamless submission channels you can provide. Multiple-choice options and free-text boxes streamline the process for you and them. This guides them through the submittal process while potentially automating your response process. 

[CCPA Requirements for Providing Request Channels] 

Regulations should play a role in the methods you choose. Did you know? While the GDPR only requires you to provide some electronic method, the CCPA requires you to provide at least two methods for submitting requests.

For Access requests, the CCPA requires online businesses to provide an email address for contact. If you have an online and physical presence, you must also provide a toll-free number and website address.

For Opt-out requests, the CCPA requires businesses to provide a “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” interactive form on their homepage — this is your first method. The second method can be another form, email, or another appropriate method. You’ll need two methods for Deletion requests, as well. 

[How to Pick the Right One for You] 

So, we know one of your methods will be an interactive form on your home page. You can combine your opt-out and delete requests in this form to make it easier.

But what about your second option? There are three main elements you should factor into your decision:

The first is time.

Online forms save time and manpower. They expedite the process and make it easier on both the user’s and organization’s ends. But if time is of the essence, what about the time, research, and capabilities to make these online forms? 

This leads us to our second factor: budget.

Just like our platform, there are platforms that provide companies with structured forms for receiving DSRs. Once created according to the needs and the brand, companies put these forms in their privacy policies, so whenever users wish for their data to be deleted - they simply fill out that form. 

[VIDEO EDITING: Use this page https://business.saymine.com/privacy-center]

With such structured forms, you can ensure your requests are received with all the information needed, instantly verified, and automated into one place. Of course, software that provides tailor-made forms costs money; however, so does manpower, which software helps you save on.

This leads us to our final factor: the user experience you want to provide.

One of the biggest frustrations and barriers to providing a user experience is asynchronous communication. When you process everything via email, you create the delay of back-and-forth comments and the frustrating potential of missed messages. 

Organizing your forms and communication in one place can expedite the process, ensuring you meet regulations and your users are satisfied ASAP.

Learn better by example? In our next video, let’s look at some examples of how different companies handle DSRs.”