5 Steps to Make Chatbots GDPR Compliance Ready

Chatbots are fast evolving and are no longer used for business communication only; chatbot makers and developers must consider certain important factors when using chatbots in a data controlling and processing manner.

One important factor is GDPR which stands for General Data Protection Regulation.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). — Investopedia

This requires online platforms and chatbots to face the strict scrutiny of the GDPR when dealing with user data. Some of the generic and minimum steps that the chatbots makers need to take to be ready for GDPR compliance are listed below.

Note: The list is not comprehensive; it is just an indicative list for internal assessment. Please consider a full audit of a chatbot before making it public for general use.

5 steps chatbot creators need to take to be ready for GDPR compliance:

• The chatbots, before starting a conversion, must clearly state what data will be collected in the conversation and must be able to access what data is being collected.

• The data collected by the chatbot must be accessible, reviewable, downloadable, and erasable by the chatbot user.

• The chatbot logs must be securely stored and made accessible to users. Also, you must have explicit permission from the user before processing the log to train your chatbots.

1. Chatbot Trends Report 2021

2. 4 DO’s and 3 DON’Ts for Training a Chatbot NLP Model

3. Concierge Bot: Handle Multiple Chatbots from One Chat Screen

4. An expert system: Conversational AI Vs Chatbots

• A clearly stated privacy policy and contact information for a Data Officer for any concerns.

• The option of talking to a real operator or agent rather than a machine chatbot.

The basic concepts of GDPR should be clearer to you now and how you can begin to prepare your next chatbot to follow these guidelines.

These items are an indicative list of the steps that the chatbot owner needs to take. A full audit may reflect more areas to make sure the chatbot is fully compliant.

The most crucial part of a chatbot’s implementation is the impact of regulations when chatbots deal with personal data.

We introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which protects the data of EU citizens, not only within the EU but outside as well.

We also saw a quick checklist of customers’ rights, as well as some standard GDRP compliance measures for chatbots.