---
schema_version: "1"
id: 126ff7dcd148f319ec32c0be0d5ebf0f4388632e244603645a7893eeceea0348
title: Access External Data with the Salesforce Connect Adapter for Privacy Center
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/salesforce_connect_privacy_center.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.salesforce_connect_privacy_center.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: d5f56d03989d80ff0488136f1d570fb3b11343a2f510c6658245fdbb445aa942
description: Connect your users to data that’s stored in a Privacy Center retention store.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
  - Security
release: "264"
---
# Access External Data with the Salesforce Connect Adapter for Privacy Center

Connect your users to data that’s stored in a Privacy Center retention store.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Developer</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, and <strong>Unlimited</strong> Editions. Requires the Privacy Center license.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Before you begin:

- Make sure that your Privacy Center retention store contains data. If your retention store is empty or not yet provisioned for your org, errors can occur with the Salesforce Connect setup process.
- External objects are used to represent the data in your Privacy Center retention store. The external object fields don’t appear in global searches.

To set up Salesforce Connect with the Privacy Center adapter, complete these high-level steps.

1. [Set up your Privacy Center retention store as an external data source](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_external_data_define.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Give users access to the data in your Privacy Center retention store.").
2. Activate the objects that you want to access in your data store.
    1. From the Privacy Center app, click the **Data Stores** tab.
    2. In the dropdown menu for your data store, click **Configure Objects**.
    3. In the Activated column, select the objects that you want to access.
    4. Click **Save Settings**.
3. Create external objects in Salesforce to represent the data in your data store. Complete this step using one of two methods.
    - [Validate and sync](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.ext_data_sync_database.htm&type=5&language=en_US) your external data source (recommended). This method automatically creates external objects and maps them to the data in your retention store.
    - [Define external objects manually](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.external_object_define.htm&type=5&language=en_US). Use this method only if you want to customize the object names and manually create the object fields.
4. View the retained data using any of these methods.
    - [View Records with Custom Tabs](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_custom_tabs.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "To view the external objects that you synced with your Privacy Center retention store, you can create custom object tabs.").
    - [View Records with Related Lists](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_related_lists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Use related lists to view the external objects that you synced with your Privacy Center retention store.").
    - [Query the external objects](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.soql_sosl.meta/soql_sosl/sforce_api_calls_soql.htm) using Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL).
    - [View Files and Attachments](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_retained_files_attachments.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "View files and attachments in your Privacy Center retention store by adding a component to the associated record page.").

- **[Define an External Data Source for Salesforce Connect–Privacy Center](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_external_data_define.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Give users access to the data in your Privacy Center retention store.
- **[View Records with Custom Tabs](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_custom_tabs.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    To view the external objects that you synced with your Privacy Center retention store, you can create custom object tabs.
- **[View Records with Related Lists](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_related_lists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Use related lists to view the external objects that you synced with your Privacy Center retention store.
- **[View Files and Attachments](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.privacy_center_view_retained_files_attachments.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    View files and attachments in your Privacy Center retention store by adding a component to the associated record page.

#### See Also

- [_Knowledge Article_: Use a Two-Phase Query to Access High-Volume Privacy Center Retained Data](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=005237174&type=1&language=en_US)