Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you need a lawful basis for processing your customers' data, which includes sending them emails and SMS messages.
The most straightforward way to have lawful access is to secure consent, which Sign In Scheduling can take care of for you.
You do not need to read this article if you manage customers' consent yourself. However, Sign In Scheduling can automate this process, taking a weight off of your shoulders.
SECTIONS:
Communicating only with those who have consented
Securing consent when booking
When booking appointments manually within Sign In Scheduling, you'll be asked whether the customer you're adding to the booking has granted their consent for you to contact them. This is indicated by a 'Consent to contact' checkbox.
You don't have to tick this box to book an appointment, but it serves as a good reminder to ask your customers.
When your customers book appointments themselves via your online booking page, Sign In Scheduling will automatically ask them for their consent to be contacted. Our research suggests that this doesn't have a negative impact on booking rates. Moreover, this helps your business adhere to GDPR.
Sign In Scheduling keeps a full audit of when your clients consented to be contacted. Contact us if you want details for a specific customer.
Communicating only with those who have consented
By default, Sign In Scheduling will contact your customers to notify them of new bookings and send them reminders, etc.
To stop Sign In Scheduling from contacting customers who have not consented, head to 'Manage' > 'Data & Privacy' > 'Consent for customer communications' and select 'Only send communications to customers marked as consented'.
On being compliant
Turning this option on does not automatically make your business compliant, and leaving it off does not automatically make you non-compliant. But these features can make becoming GDPR compliant easier.
Need more help?
We hope you've found this guide helpful. For more of Sign In Scheduling's security and compliance information, click here. If you have any questions, reach out to our support team who will be happy to assist.