Handle a personal-data request

Before you start

• A role that lets you manage users, for an employee’s or former employee’s data. A role that lets you manage recruitment, for a job candidate’s data. On a new instance only administrators can manage users. In the built-in set, administrators can manage recruitment, and so can members of the “HR Managers” group.
• Be sure the request really comes from the person it is about before you send or erase anything.
• This guide covers the steps in Zonitix only. Whether you must act on a request, what you may keep, and by when you must answer are questions for your privacy lead or legal adviser.
• Zonitix covers what it holds itself. Data about the person in your other systems (email, payroll, connected apps) is handled in those systems.

Give someone a copy of their data

1. 1

   Step 1: A current employee: they download it themselves

   Anyone who can sign in can get their own copy without your help. They open My Profile and, under “GDPR / Privacy Compliance”, click “REQUEST PII EXPORT (SAR)”. (PII means personal data; SAR means a request for a copy of it.) A file downloads with their profile, their groups and roles, their recent activity and what the other parts of Zonitix hold about them. The steps are in Your profile and sign-in security.

2. 2

   Step 2: Someone who can no longer sign in

   If the person has not left yet, do this before their last day: ask them to do step 1 themselves and keep the file. Offboarding removes their sign-in the moment it starts, and after that step 1 is closed to them.

   If they have already left, there is no button for exporting another person’s data. The copy is made by a request to your instance’s API, which returns the same file as step 1. That is a job for someone who writes scripts, so hand it over:

   • Who to ask: whoever helps you with IT. They need a Zonitix account whose role lets them manage users.
   • What to give them: the person’s name or work email address, and the box below.
   • What you get back: one file, the same kind as in step 1, which you send to the person who asked.
   • How you know it is complete: ask your helper to confirm the last check in the box.

   For IT: export one person’s data

   • Create a personal API token that includes manage_users and view_users; see Create an API token. A token can only carry permissions its owner holds.
   • Find the person’s numeric id: GET /api/v1/user-management/users/search?query= followed by their name or email address. The reply lists up to ten matches, each with an id; people who have left are included.
   • Request the export: GET /api/v1/user-management/users/<id>/export, sending the token in the Authorization header as a Bearer token. Save the reply as a file.
   • Open the file and look at the list named notes inside crossServiceData. If it is not empty, one part of Zonitix could not be read and the copy is incomplete: run the request again.
   • Revoke the token when you are done.

   Each export is written to the audit log as a warning, with the name of the person who ran it. The full reply format is on the GDPR Compliance reference page.

3. 3

   Step 3: A job candidate

   Go to HR & TalentCandidate Pipeline and open the candidate. On the “Overview” tab, under “Data & privacy”, click “Export data (DSAR)”. The candidate’s data opens in a new browser tab, ready to save.

Erase someone's data

1. 4

   Step 4: Take a copy first if they asked for one

   Erasing cannot be undone from the app. If the person asked for a copy as well, do steps 1 to 3 before you go on.

2. 5

   Step 5: An employee: offboard, then delete

   An active account cannot be deleted. If the person still has one, offboard them first; see Offboard someone. Then go to AdministrationUsers, find the person and click the bin button on their row (its tooltip reads “Delete”). A window titled “Delete User?” asks you to confirm; click “Delete”.

3. 6

   Step 6: Read the message that follows

   Zonitix deletes the account and asks its other parts to erase what they hold about the person. The message tells you which of three things happened:

   “User deleted!” means the account is gone. A message that the person “could not be removed outright” means past records such as the audit trail, tasks or approvals still refer to the account, so their personal data was erased instead: the account can no longer sign in and stays in the list as “Deleted User”. A message that names stores that “could not be erased” means part of the erasure failed and needs a follow-up; a line starting “Kept on purpose:” lists anything deliberately kept and why.

4. 7

   Step 7: A job candidate

   Open the candidate as in step 3 and click “GDPR purge”. A window titled “Permanently erase this candidate?” lists what is deleted: the résumé file, offers, interviews, referrals and stage history. Click “PURGE PERMANENTLY”.

   If a window titled “Erasure incomplete — follow-up needed” appears, signed documents could not be removed from the signing part of Zonitix. Read what it lists, note it, and click “I understand”.

5. 8

   Step 8: Keep your record

   Each export, deletion and purge is written to the audit log with your name. To find the entries later, open SystemSystem Logs. Note the date and what you did in your own request register as well.

What you should see

If something goes wrong

The bin button is greyed out

Hover over it. "Offboard first, then delete" means the account is still active. It is also greyed out for the primary administrator account and when your role does not let you manage users.

The person is still in the list after you deleted them

They show as "Deleted User". Their personal data has been erased, but the row is kept because past records still point to it. Deleting again changes nothing.

The message says some stores could not be erased

One part of Zonitix did not answer. The failure is recorded in the audit log. Check System, System Health, then contact Zonitix support with the names of the stores in the message.

There is no "Data & privacy" section on the candidate

Your role does not let you manage recruitment. Ask an HR manager or an administrator to export or purge the candidate.

Still stuck? See When something goes wrong, or Contact Zonitix support.

Where next

• Your profile and sign-in security
• Offboard someone
• Export all your company data
• Forward logs to your SIEM