By providing you with this valuable information, you will gain insight into how to prepare your website widget using our Privacy note feature for your customers/visitors, all while staying compliant with the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), as needed.
CIPA in a nutshell
Did you know that CIPA requires consent from all parties to any confidential conversation being recorded? A so-called “wiretapping” applies not just to voice calls but also to recorded conversations conducted in other forms (for example, via software services).
What does it mean for you?
You may need to review your current approach to managing data protection, confidentiality, and security practices. If you collect, use, or disclose the personal information of California residents, you could be subject to CIPA fines, injunctions, and other legal remedies regardless of where your company is located (even if your company is not located in California).
Here’s what you should remember:
Notice: Inform your website visitors/customers (“end-users”) about the specific data you will collect about them and the purposes for which it will be used (such a notice should be provided at or before the time of the collection).
Consent: Make it easy for your end-users to provide their consent before collecting, using, recording, or disclosing their personal information.
Access to Data: Clearly state who will have access to the collected personal data, whether it is your company employees or 3rd-party service providers who assist you in delivering the services.
Privacy Policy and Compliance: Provide indicators that demonstrate your compliance with the data protection that apply to you.
Customer Rights: Explain the rights end-users have regarding the processing of their personal data, and provide information on how they can withdraw their consent to data processing if desired.
Security Measures: Assure end-users that your company takes all necessary measures to safeguard their personal data by implementing appropriate security procedures and technologies.
The information provided here is not meant to be construed as legal advice. It is always recommended to seek guidance from a legal advisor to ensure compliance with your local applicable regulations, such as CIPA. Therefore, we advise consulting with qualified legal counsel regarding your particular business and data processing circumstances.
Overall, knowing what regulations you need to comply with and their specific stipulations is important.
Stay compliant with CIPA and improve your customer experience
You should take certain steps, as part of your privacy program, to provide your website visitors/customers with sufficient notice of your privacy policy, and it should be updated and conspicuously hyperlinked on each of your websites. This is to ensure that visitors/customers are properly informed whenever their personal data is collected, whether automatically or through a chat feature. Meaning, when implementing our services on your website, it is essential to inform your website visitors/customers that you use our services.
Furthermore, please ensure visitors understand that their data and messages are stored while they interact with you through the chat widget on your website. Also inform them that you have access to their data, including their personal information, and clearly indicate that they may be monitored while on your website.
How do you do it? Here are simple step-by-step instructions on using our Privacy note to create content for your website visitors/customers needed to meet the requirements of CIPA:
You can enable the Privacy note in your website widget to let visitors know that their personal data — such as their name, email address, or phone number — may be collected during a chat.
It’s beneficial if your AI agent uses the Collect customer data skill, which can automatically recognize and save personal details shared naturally during the conversation.
The Privacy note is not enabled by default and contains no pre-filled text. You can customize and enable it yourself to meet your organization’s compliance requirements.
How to enable the Privacy note
1. In Text App, go to Settings → Channels → Website widgets.
2. Click the three dots icon next to your website.
3. Select Customize.
4. You’ll be redirected to the on-site configurator with a live preview of your widget.
5. Go to Language → Privacy policy to set and enable your privacy note.
6. Add your Privacy note.
7. (Optional) Add a link to your full Privacy Policy or Data Processing Agreement (DPA).
8. Click Save changes.
You can adjust the tone and formality of your privacy note to fit your brand voice.
Regularly review your Privacy note and make any necessary updates to align with the changing CIPA requirements or your specific needs.
By following these steps, you can effectively use the Privacy note to create content, allowing you to meet CIPA requirements while engaging with your end-users. Stay compliant and provide a seamless experience for your website visitors.
Privacy note examples
If you want to understand how the content may look, we prepared some generic examples for you.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to adapt these examples to fit your unique business and legal requirements each time. The data protection examples provided herein are only considered general examples and are not legal advice to meet CIPA.
Example 1: “To provide you with the best support, the data you provide us during this chat or other interactions on this website may be recorded, collected, stored, and processed to help us understand your needs and provide you with assistance accordingly. By proceeding, you consent to the collection and processing of your personal information by us and our authorized partners. We take privacy seriously and will protect your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.”
Example 2: “Our goal is to assist you effectively. As part of our service, we may collect, record, store, process, and transfer your personal information that you shared with us through chat sessions, contact forms, or other interactions on this website. By continuing, you consent to us and our authorized partners to handle your data in order to resolve your inquiries. We prioritize data security and maintain strict confidentiality measures to safeguard your information, and we will protect your data following our Privacy Policy.”
Example 3: “By continuing to use this website, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy. This includes the recording and processing of any conversations or interactions you have with us on our website."
Remember, these examples serve as a reference point. It’s important to modify them to reflect your specific business operations and legal requirements.
Give your website visitors the right to access their data
Under CIPA, it’s essential to inform your visitors/customers about your privacy policy and obtain their consent. But it doesn’t stop there! CIPA also sets obligations for protecting the privacy rights of California residents. By fulfilling these obligations, you’ll build trust and loyalty with your customers and demonstrate your commitment to privacy.
Here are some of the CIPA obligations we have compiled for your reference, which include:
Access and Correction: Grant individuals access to their personal information upon request and allow them to make corrections if needed.
Deletion: Offer them the option to request the deletion of their personal information from your records.
Non-discrimination: Treat all individuals fairly and equally, regardless of whether they exercise their privacy rights under CIPA.
And guess what? With just a few simple steps, you can provide your visitors/customers with the chat transcripts and tickets they created while interacting with you through the website widget. This way, they can easily access the information they need.
Copy of chat transcripts
If you want to provide your website visitors with a transcript of a conversation they’ve requested, follow the steps below.
1. Go to the Archive section in your Text App.
2. Choose the requested chat from the list.
3. Click Send transcript under the More menu in the top-right corner of the conversation.
4. A modal will appear asking for an email address. Enter your customer’s email and click Send transcript to proceed.
We will now send the transcript of the conversation to the provided email address.
But that’s not all — the same rule applies to you. If you would like to retrieve your chat history with our support team, simply email us at support@text.com and request the data we have collected about you in Text App.
Please make sure to send the information retrieval request from the email address you use to log in to Text App. We will send a verification code to the email address associated with your Text App account, and will send over the information after receiving the code back from you.
Copy of tickets
When it comes to tickets, each one is automatically forwarded to your customer’s email whenever an agent replies to their query. However, if a customer asks you to resend a ticket, you can easily do so from the Tickets section of your Text App.
1. Go to the Tickets section and find the ticket in question.
2. Click on the ticket to open it.
3. To resend the ticket, simply write a new message and click Send. All messages within the ticket will be resent to the customer.
If you need to send the ticket to another email address, click Add recipients. Enter the new email address in the modal and click Save. After that, write a new message and click Send. The full ticket history will also be sent to the new address.
Give your visitors the right to delete their personal data
Sometimes, your customers may have valid reasons to request the deletion of a chat or ticket, especially if personal data has been shared during the conversation. If you receive such a request from your visitors/customers, and there’s no reason to decline, we've got you covered with our internal procedure.
We’ll make it easy for you to remove the requested conversation or ticket from your licensed platform. The best part? We’ll handle the tricky part for you, so you can focus on serving your customers without any hassle.
What does the procedure look like?
All you need to do is provide us with a chat or ticket ID (you can find it on the right side of the transcript in the application) or, if it’s multiple documents, tag the chats or tickets you would like us to remove. You can create a separate tag and name it 'Delete' so that you can use it only when such a request arises.
Not using tags in Text App yet, or unsure how to create one? Click here to learn more.
After tagging a conversation or ticket, please send us an email at support@text.com requesting that we remove all transcripts and/or tickets marked with the specified tag.
Please make sure to send the deletion request from the email address of an Owner or Admin of your account. We will send a verification code to the email address associated with your account and will delete the transcripts and/or tickets as soon as we get the code back from you.
After receiving an email, we will remove all of the requested data as soon as possible. Also, after fulfilling your request, one of our Support Heroes will send you an email confirmation to notify you that the process has been completed.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this article, feel free to start a chat with one of our Support Heroes. They are available 24/7 and always ready to provide additional information on adjusting your Text App license.