Zendesk recommends following this page. As new questions arise, we will update this topic. For more information on GDPR and Zendesk, see EU Data Protection on the Zendesk website.
See the following sections in this topic:
Zendesk Chat
What information is collected by the Chat SDK?
The only personal data that the Chat SDK collects and transfers are IDs and tokens. These fields do not contain any user information.
Can I customize the Chat widget to add additional language and disclaimers? I'd like to update the form to include consent to use cookies and personal data.
You can use the Chat SDK to fully customize the Chat widget. You can add additional disclaimers and support translation in multiple languages. See Zendesk Chat SDK. Partial customization of the Chat widget from within the Chat UI is not supported unless you have a Chat Enterprise or Premium (Legacy) account.
I tested the cookie law compliance API. It adds a Chat Disabled message to the chat window which suggests to a user that chat is not available. But, this isn’t the case. Can this message be updated or customized?
You cannot customize this message. Zendesk has no plans to change the button behavior. You can use the Zendesk Chat SDK to create a custom widget.
Do you offer tools within Zendesk Chat to display cookie banners and track end-user consent to the use of cookies? Or, how can I obtain consent from end-users to use cookies and their personal data?
- For cookies, Zendesk Chat has API functionality that you can use prior to initiating the chat to obtain end-user consent for using cookies. See Zendesk Chat API and Zopim API Request for GDPR.
- In compliance with your Privacy Policy, you can use the Chat SDK to add a checkbox to the Chat widget to obtain consent for use of personal data. Also, you can use the SDK to rebuild the entire widget, add additional disclaimers, and support translation in multiple languages. See Zendesk Chat SDK.
- Alternatively, you can create your own pre-chat form using web tools. This pre-chat form can contain a checkbox for the end-user to select and provide their consent to use cookies and personal data. When the user presses submit, the account can initiate chat using the zChat.init API. Add Tags to store the consent along with the chat. These tags are available with the chats and can be downloaded by the account in CSV format.
- Admins can identify the chats and delete the chats where end-users do not wish to have their details stored with the account. Tags can help identify such chats.
How can I bulk delete chats?
You can bulk delete chats from History (Settings > Chat > Chat Dashboard > History > Actions > Delete) or use the REST API.
How long is personal data retained in chat?
Typically, service data in active accounts remain until you delete it. Service data in cancelled or terminated accounts follow the Zendesk Data Deletion Policy.
Can I hide or redact IP addresses in chat and reports?
The IP address is always captured for an end-user. Delete the relevant chat to delete the IP address.
Can I prevent storing IP addresses for end-users in Zendesk Chat?
This is not possible in Zendesk Chat.
How can I limit the personal data going into Zendesk Chat?
Yes. See Managing Offline Form settings.
Can I customize the offline greeting shown to end-users?
You can control the personal data captured in the Pre-Chat form. See Setting up the Pre-Chat form. However, certain information - Location, IP address and User Agent is required by default.
Zendesk Guide
Can I display a banner in Zendesk Guide that tells users about opt-in consent tracking?
Guide allows you to create custom banner notifications on their Help Centers. You can use this banner to inform end-users about cookie use. See Adding a notification banner to your Help Center V2.
Can I customize the Help Center End-User profile registration page? I would like to add GDPR consent during registration.
You cannot do this on Help Center, yet. There are other ways to customize. See Customizing your Help Center.
Zendesk Talk
Does Zendesk track all agents who have listened to a call?
Apart from the original agent in the recording, Zendesk doesn’t track who listened to a recording. Admins can export a log from the Talk history page that includes agents who have barged in on or listened to ongoing calls. See Monitoring calls with the Live calls dashboard.
Zendesk Web Widget
How long is widget data stored?
Information stored locally in the Web Widget can be cleared at any time. Use your standard browser clearing capabilities.
Zendesk Bots
What information is collected by autoreplies?
Autoreplies takes all of your Help Center articles and converts each of them into a vector that represents the document. The vector along with the article ID is then stored in a database. The database is restricted for each account to avoid leaking articles from one customer to another.
When autoreplies presents an answer, only articles that are accessible by the user reading the answer are displayed.