GDPR Contd. - Handling Lawful Bases for Your Customers using Zoho CRM.

GDPR Contd. - Handling Lawful Bases for Your Customers using Zoho CRM.

Hello folks,  

Continuing from our previous GDPR post, we bring to you the first cut of GDPR centric enhancements that are released for handling lawful bases for your customers in Zoho CRM. For your understanding we have split the entire process into three sections:
  1. Identifying Data Processing Basis
  2. Updating the Data Processing Basis in Zoho CRM 
  3. Consent Management in Zoho CRM
1. Identifying Data Processing Basis
The fundamental principle to handle the personal data of your data subjects is to process the data lawfully and fairly, in a transparent manner. As a data controller, based on your business requirements and the purpose of data processing, you can choose and update the Data Processing Basis from the following options : 
  • Legitimate interest
  • Vital interest
  • Public interest
  • Contract
  • Legal Obligation
  • Consent
You can choose 'Not applicable' for the records if GDPR does not apply. 

2. Updating the Data Processing Basis in Zoho CRM
The first thing you need to do is enable GDPR in your Zoho CRM account. You can do this by going to Setup > Users and Control > Compliance Settings. In the Compliance Settings page, toggle on the button for GDPR Compliance and select the modules that contain information of your data subjects. 

The Data Processing Basis for all data subjects in your CRM account will be marked as 'Not Applicable' by default. After identifying the appropriate data processing basis, you can update the same in Zoho CRM in the following ways:
  1. Update individual records manually. Once you enable GDPR in your Zoho CRM account, a new tab called "Data Privacy" will appear in the Record details page where you can manually update the Data Processing Basis.

  2. Mass update the records from custom list views.
  3. Go to Setup > Users and Control > Compliance Settings > Overview. Under the section Not applicable (since all your records are marked as not applicable), click View and you can mass update the records.

As a data controller, you can define under what Data Processing Basis you want the new records to be marked going forward. A new field called 'Source' in the record details page which will store your data sources such as Web forms, APIs, Integrations, etc. By default all records will fall under the 'Not Applicable' basis. Using this and other attributes of the record, you can write workflow rules to update corresponding Data Processing Basis before the data moves further in CRM.

Please ensure the utmost care while editing the Data Processing Basis of a record. Changing from one lawful basis to another holds its own set of rules and requirements under the GDPR. 

3. Consent Management in Zoho CRM
One of the six lawful bases to process the personal data of your customers is 'Consent'. You can opt for Consent, when none of the other five lawful bases are appropriate. Once you have chosen the data processing basis as Consent, you need to get a proper consent from your subjects to process their data lawfully. 

Please take legal precautions before getting consent from your subjects. Because, if you have obtained personal data unlawfully, it could be unlawful for you to even send an email requesting consent. You must ensure that requesting consent by email is lawful. 

A new section called Consent Details appears under the Data Privacy tab for records that are marked as 'Consent'. The status of these data subjects will be updated as 'Pending' by default. 

You can obtain consent from your data subjects in the following ways:
  1. Update Manually: When you get a consent from your subject through a call or personal email, you can update the consent status manually. 
  2. Update Automatically using Consent Form: You can obtain consent from your subjects using a consent form that you can customize inside Zoho CRM. The fully customizable consent form allows you to get consent for:
  • The purpose of data collection and processing
  • Preferred communication channel
 You can set up the consent form by going to Setup > Users and Control >  Compliance Settings > Consent Form. 

Once you have customized the consent form, you can add the form's link in an email template and send it individually or mass email it to data subjects whom you require consent. 

You can also go to Setup > Users and Control > Compliance settings > Overview. You can view the records that fall under each consent status. Click Show Records under Pending, select the records and click Send Consent Form button.

You can update the consent status for new data subjects either manually or you can set up a workflow rule to send the consent email, which can be triggered based on the source, country and other attributes of a lead or a contact. 

You can track the status of the Data Processing Basis and Consent for your Data Subjects from the Overview dashboard in Compliance settings. 

We hope that you find these timely enhancements very useful. Feel free to share your feedback or queries by commenting below. And do watch this space for more GDPR centric enhancements in Zoho CRM. 

For more reference:
The content presented herein is not to be construed as legal advise. Please contact your legal advisor to know how GDPR impacts your organisation and what you need to do to comply with the GDPR.

    • Recent Topics

    • Zoho CRM Queries Now Support Databases and Cloud Data Sources

      Hello everyone! We're thrilled to announce a major enhancement to the Queries feature in Zoho CRM! Queries now support a broader range of external data sources, allowing you to fetch live data and combine it with CRM records, all using a unified query

    • Salesforceに添付ファイルを格納したい

      お世話になっております。 Salesforceに添付ファイルを格納したく、カスタムオブジェクトに連携し、 「ファイルのアップロード」項目を設けました。 実際、エラーもなく送信出来たのですが、実際生成されたカスタムオブジェクトのレコードを見ると、どこにも添付ファイルがありません。仕様として、この添付ファイルはSalesforceのどこに格納されるのでしょうか？ 今回作りたいフォームは、複数の書類を添付するため、Zohoformのファイルアップロード項目「本人確認書類」「源泉徴収票」などの項目を、Salesforce側にも設けた「本人確認書類」「源泉徴収票」という各項目にURLリンクとして紐づけたいと思っておりました。

    • Dynamic image in form works in the app but not on the customer portal.

      img = frm_Fichas[ID == input.Nombre].Foto; imgno = Nophoto[ID2 = 1].Image; if(len(img) > 1) { img = img.replaceAll("/sharedBy/appLinkName/",zoho.appuri); img = img.replaceAll("viewLinkName","Fichas_de_personal_public"); img = img.replaceAll("fieldName","Foto");

    • Is it possible to retrieve function (Deluge) code from Zoho CRM externally?

      Hi Everyone, Is it possible to fetch or retrieve the Deluge function code from Zoho CRM using an external method (API or any other approach)? I would like to know if there is any way to access or extract the function script outside of Zoho CRM, or if

    • Uplifted homepage experience

      Editions: All editions. Availability update: 17th February 2026: All editions in the CA and SA DC | JP DC (Free, Standard and Professional editions) 23 February 2026: JP (All Editions) | AU, CN (Free, Standard, Professional editions) 27 February 2026:

    • Allow Font Size 11 in Editors...

      That is basic functionality...

    • Where is the scheduled report in New UI?

      Hi Team, Seems there is not such a field in New UI, hence I have to switch to old UI to handle request..

    • Approval Workflow for Purchase Orders Abrir

      The requirement is , that all purchase orders greater than or equal to 5000 go through an approval process from certain people, but within books I only see that the approvers can be by levels or any approver but we cannot enter a rule like these. Can

    • WeTravel + Zoho CRM Integration - Has Anyone Built a Connector or Extension?

      Hi all, I'm exploring options for integrating Zoho CRM with WeTravel (booking & payment platform for tour operators). Zapier seems to be the common method but seems limited. I'm wondering if anyone in the community has developed a more comprehensive solution,

    • Option in pipeline deal to select which hotel or branch or store if client has more than one local store

      Hi, I would like to know if there is an option in the deal pipeline to select which hotel, branch, or store a deal is related to—if the company has more than one location. For example, I have a client that owns several hotels under the same company, and

    • Undo article like/dislike

      It seems to be not possible to undo your like/dislike for an article. Would be great if you can. Kind regards, Helen

    • Nested notebooks

      Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to know if it is possible to nest notebooks. It would be very helpful when there are too many, as it would improve organization. Thank you for your response. Best regards.

    • Tax in Quote

      Each row item in a quote has a tax value. At the total numbers at the bottom, there is also a Tax entry. If you select tax in both of the (line item, and the total), the tax doubles. My assumption is that the Tax total should be totalling the tax from

    • Issue with "Send Email" from Quotes not loading Email Template data

      Hi everyone, I'm currently experiencing an issue when using the "Send Email" option from a Quote record in Zoho CRM. What’s happening: When I go to the Quotes module and select a record, then click Send Email, the attached file (Quote) correctly pulls

    • Dynamically Fetching Lookup Field Display Value

      I have an audit trail form, Audit_Changes, that tracks old vs new values across different forms. For lookup fields, the old/new value is the ID, but I also need the display value. What's a best practice for dynamically fetching the display value of the

    • Stop Scrolling, Start Asking: Meet Zia for Your Files

      Hey everyone 👋 The era of 'scrolling and searching' is officially over. Whether it's a dense legal contract or a long meeting recording, searching for specific details is a massive time-sink. We think you should be able to interact with your files, not

    • Introducing a smarter, faster, and more flexible charting experience

      Hello Zoho Sheet users, We're delighted to share the latest news about a major update to charts in Zoho Sheet! The new version supports dynamic data ranges, granular styling options, faster loading, and other interesting enhancements that allow you to

    • How to create a new Batch and update Stock via Inventory?

      Hi everyone, We are building an automation where a user enters batch details (Batch Number, Mfg Date, Expiry, and Quantity) into a Custom Module. I need this to trigger an API call to Zoho Inventory to: Create the new batch for the item. Increase the

    • How do I open MSG files in Microsoft Word?

      If you want to open MSG files in Microsoft Word is not natively supported, as MSG is an email file format created by Microsoft Outlook. However, there are professional approaches to access MSG content in Word. First, open the MSG file in Outlook and copy

    • Unable to charge GST on shipping/packing & Forwarding charges in INDIA

      Currently, tax rates only apply to items. It does not apply tax to any shipping or packing & forwarding charges that may be on the order as well. However, these charges are taxable under GST in India. Please add the ability to apply tax to these charges.

    • How to add packing & forwarding charge in purchase order & quotation???

      Hello Zoho Team I have just started using Zoho for my company and I wanted to make purchase order. My supplier charges fix 2% as packing & forwarding on Total amount of material and then they charge me tax. For example, Material 1 = 100 Rs Material 2

    • How to create a boxplot chart in Zoho Analytics?

      Hi, I'm looking forward to making a boxplot in Zoho Analytics, either with all my data or with a time segmentation. No documentation or YouTube video explaining that was found. I guess this is a feature gap. How feasible would it be to add this to Analytics?

    • What are the create bill API line item requiered fields

      While the following documentation says that the line items array is requiered it doesn't say what if any files are requiered in the array. Does anyone know? API documentation: https://www.zoho.com/inventory/api/v1/bills/#create-a-bill I'm trying to add

    • WorkDrive issues with Windows Explorer Not Responding

      We are using WorkDrive to collaborate on editing video content. We have a lot of files and quite a few are a few gigs. Recently anytime I try and work with the files Explorer freezes for a couple minutes whether it's dragging the files into Premiere or

    • Connecting Zoho Inventory to ShipStation

      we are looking for someone to help connect via API shipStation with Zoho inventory. Any ideas? Thanks. Uri

    • Where is the settings option in zoho writer?

      hi, my zoho writer on windows has menu fonts too large. where do i find the settings to change this option? my screen resolution is correct and other apps/softwares in windows have no issues. regards

    • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

      Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure

    • When Does WorkDrive integrate with Books?

      When Does WorkDrive integrate with Books?

    • POP mailbox limits

      If I am accessing a remote POP mail server using Zoho Mail is there a mailbox quota for the account or is it all related to my mail account storage limits?

    • Warranty Service and Repair in Zoho FSM

      Hi There, We are a retail store that sells products and also performs installations and repairs. Our field technicians handle this work. Some repairs are covered by manufacturers, who reimburse us for both parts and labour. In these cases, we perform

    • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

      Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?

    • WhatsApp phone number migration

      Hi @Gowri V and @Pheranda Nongpiur, Thanks for implementing the promised enhancements to the integration between Zoho CRM and WhatsApp. The previous discussion has been locked, so I'm opening this new one. I am copying below a specific

    • WebDAV support

      I need WebDAV support so that I can upload/download (and modify) documents from my local file system. Is anything planned in his direction?

    • Suggestions for Improved Table Management and Dashboard Filter Controls in Zoho Analytics

      Dear Zoho Analytics Community, I hope you are doing well. I would like to share a few suggestions based on issues I am currently experiencing while working with visualizations and dashboards. Firstly, when I create a new visualization using the Sales-Order

    • SPF: HELO does not publish an SPF Record

      I am using Zoho mail. Completed all of the required prerequisites from the dashboard to avoid any issues with mail delivery. But when checking on mail-tester.com getting the following error. Can anyone help me solve this?

    • How do I create an update to the Cost Price from landed costs?

      Hi fellow Zoho Inventory battlers, I am new to Zoho inventory and was completely baffled to find that the cost price of products does not update when a new purchase order is received. The cost price is just made up numbers I start with when the product

    • Price Managment

      I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just

    • Actual vs Minimum

      Hi all, I am sure I am not the only one having this need. We are implementing billing on a 30-minute increment, with a minimum of 30 minutes per ticket. My question is, is there a way to create a formula or function to track both the minimum bill vs the

    • Generate leads from instagram

      hello i have question. If connect instagram using zoho social, it is possible to get lead from instagram? example if someone send me direct message or comment on my post and then they generate to lead

    • Kaizen #234 - Automating Deal Handoff with Zia Assistant API, Workflow, Deluge, and Widget in Zoho CRM

      Hello all! Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week. In this post, we will explore how to automate the deal handoff process in Zoho CRM using Zia Assistant API + Workflow + Deluge + Widgets. Here’s how the final output looks when a deal is reassigned 1. Deal

    • Next Page