Data Deletion for Admissions Connect

Learn how to manage data deletion requests in Admissions Connect.

Data Deletion for Your Product
Learn about data deletion for Admissions Connect. Under various data protection and privacy regulations, you may be required to delete personal data of a constituent, such as in response to a GDPR right of erasure request. The following are examples of common requests, considerations, and related procedures to help you determine an action plan for complying with data erasure situations.

Data Deletion for Your Product

Learn about data deletion for Admissions Connect. Under various data protection and privacy regulations, you may be required to delete personal data of a constituent, such as in response to a GDPR right of erasure request. The following are examples of common requests, considerations, and related procedures to help you determine an action plan for complying with data erasure situations.

Not all deletion methods completely erase records from the database. Deleting a record may only move it to the Recycle Bin, and therefore personal data can still be accessed and restored. If you are required under a law or otherwise to ensure records are erased, be sure that you understand how record deletion works within Salesforce, and how to remove personal data from your instance in ways that meet your obligations.

We offer the following examples of common requests and considerations to help you plan how best to honor constituent requests around data deletion. These are only suggestions for your review, and not guaranteed steps for ensuring compliance with any legal rule.

Keep in mind that addressing constituent requests, including those provided for under the GDPR, can be challenging. A one-size-fits-all strategy may not always work, and you may need to adjust your approach when balancing organizational needs and legal obligations. For example, if exporting personal data to satisfy a GDPR data portability request may violate someone else’s rights, you might consider narrowing the fields in scope rather than exporting all data. If deleting personal data to satisfy a GDPR erasure request may conflict with other requirements around record preservation, you might consider anonymizing certain fields rather than wholesale deletion.

As always, there are pros and cons to each approach, including legal and business impacts and risks, and you are responsible for your own compliance obligations in your use of the Salesforce Services and Salesforce.org applications. You should work with your advisors, including legal counsel, to determine whether you are covered under a legal requirement, and come up with a compliance plan that’s best for your organization.

Salesforce resources:

Important Remember to review both Salesforce Platform documentation AND Salesforce.org product-specific documentation. In addition to the information provided in the table below, review:

Common Constituent Request	Actions to Consider	Things to Consider
An applicant has withdrawn their application and wants all of their data removed from the system.	Delete Records Deactivate (Delete) Users	Consider deleting these records and field data for your applicant: Contact Tasks Personal data in unindexed, free-text fields (including JSON fields) You can find personal data in unindexed fields by exporting the data, and then searching for the information. If applicable, consider deactivating the applicant’s related Community User account and remove any personal information stored on the User record. You may also need to delete: Accounts Addresses Affiliations Alerts Application Reviews Applications Cases Course Connections Document Checklist Items Education Histories Files Leads Notes Program Enrollments Relationships Be aware deleting certain applicant records could create conflicts with various requirements around data retention. If so, you may consider anonymizing but should weigh all the options with a legal advisor. If you maintain a Sandbox environment, you may want to refresh the environment afterward to remove that constituent’s data from it, or log into the Sandbox and manually remove the data.
An admissions team member has retired and the institution requests that you remove all of their associated data.	Delete Records Deactivate (Delete) Users	In addition to deactivating the User record and deleting their Contact record, consider deleting: Application Reviews Tasks Cases Any personal data in unindexed, free-text fields You can find personal data in unindexed fields by exporting the data, and then searching for the information. You may also need to delete: Notes Alerts Addresses Course Offerings Leads Accounts Be aware that deleting certain records could create conflicts with various requirements around data retention. If so, you may consider anonymization instead of deletion, but should weigh all the options with a legal advisor. If you maintain a Sandbox environment, you may want to refresh the environment afterward to remove that user’s data from it, or log into the Sandbox and manually remove the data.
A prospect, applicant, or student doesn't want you to store her email address and phone number.	Manage Contacts Manage Accounts Manage Custom Objects Deactivate (Delete) Users	Consider deleting data in any fields that store the person’s email address and phone number. Admissions Connect is built on the EDA framework which also includes these custom email and phone fields and objects: Alternate Email University Email Work Email Work Phone Address Object If you’ve created other records or activities related to the person, consider removing the email address and phone number from those records too. If applicable, you may need to deactivate the related Community User account and remove the user email address. You may also want to remove data from Salesforce standard Email and Phone fields as well.

Common Constituent Request

Actions to Consider

Things to Consider

An applicant has withdrawn their application and wants all of their data removed from the system.

Delete Records

Deactivate (Delete) Users

Consider deleting these records and field data for your applicant:

Contact
Tasks
Personal data in unindexed, free-text fields (including JSON fields)

You can find personal data in unindexed fields by exporting the data, and then searching for the information.

If applicable, consider deactivating the applicant’s related Community User account and remove any personal information stored on the User record.

You may also need to delete:

Accounts
Addresses
Affiliations
Alerts
Application Reviews
Applications
Cases
Course Connections
Document Checklist Items
Education Histories
Files
Leads
Notes
Program Enrollments
Relationships

Be aware deleting certain applicant records could create conflicts with various requirements around data retention. If so, you may consider anonymizing but should weigh all the options with a legal advisor.

If you maintain a Sandbox environment, you may want to refresh the environment afterward to remove that constituent’s data from it, or log into the Sandbox and manually remove the data.

An admissions team member has retired and the institution requests that you remove all of their associated data.

Delete Records

Deactivate (Delete) Users

In addition to deactivating the User record and deleting their Contact record, consider deleting:

Application Reviews
Tasks
Cases
Any personal data in unindexed, free-text fields

You can find personal data in unindexed fields by exporting the data, and then searching for the information.

You may also need to delete:

Notes
Alerts
Addresses
Course Offerings
Leads
Accounts

Be aware that deleting certain records could create conflicts with various requirements around data retention. If so, you may consider anonymization instead of deletion, but should weigh all the options with a legal advisor.

If you maintain a Sandbox environment, you may want to refresh the environment afterward to remove that user’s data from it, or log into the Sandbox and manually remove the data.

A prospect, applicant, or student doesn't want you to store her email address and phone number.

Manage Contacts

Manage Accounts

Manage Custom Objects

Deactivate (Delete) Users

Consider deleting data in any fields that store the person’s email address and phone number.

Admissions Connect is built on the EDA framework which also includes these custom email and phone fields and objects:

Alternate Email
University Email
Work Email
Work Phone
Address Object

If you’ve created other records or activities related to the person, consider removing the email address and phone number from those records too.

If applicable, you may need to deactivate the related Community User account and remove the user email address.

You may also want to remove data from Salesforce standard Email and Phone fields as well.