Deleting a client or erasing all their data

Goal. Tell apart deleting a record with no history from erasing a person completely with everything that belongs to them, and do each with the safeguards it requires.

Prerequisites. "Delete clients" to delete. "Erase all data for a client" to erase, which by default only the Administrator has.

Deleting a record

1. On the record, click "Delete".
2. Confirm at "Delete this client? This cannot be undone.".

Only records without cases can be deleted. If there are cases, the CRM replies "Cannot delete: the client has associated cases."; in that case, archive or delete the cases first, or use erasure.

Erasing all of a person's data

This is the answer to a full deletion request. It removes the record, their cases, their documents and the files in Google Drive or OneDrive, their conversations, their appointments and their tasks. It cannot be undone, and a later backup does not bring them back either.

1. On the record, click "Erase data".
2. Read the "Erase all data for this person" dialog. It explains what is removed and warns that the audit log is not deleted but anonymised: personal data goes, and what was done, on what and when is kept.
3. Type the full name as requested at "To confirm, type the full name: …".
4. Click "Erase forever".

The CRM confirms with "Data erased: N cases and N documents. The audit trail was anonymized.".

When erasure is refused

• "The name does not match. Nothing was erased." Type the name exactly as shown.
• "This person has payments or contracts on record. Nothing was erased." Those are the documents that support the accounting. If they must still be removed, delete those records by hand first and try again.
• "A file in your cloud could not be deleted, so nothing was erased." Check the Google Drive or OneDrive connection in "Settings" › "Integrations" and try again. Erasure is all or nothing.

Troubleshooting

• "Erase data" is missing. Only users with the "Erase all data for a client" permission see it.
• You need to keep the accounting but remove personal data. Delete or archive what is not accounting-related and consult an administrator before erasing; erasure does not distinguish.