Privacy, GDPR and data retention

Under GDPR you are the controller of your clients' data and Nola processes it for you. Settings → Privacy brings together what that means in practice: the agreement between you and Nola, how long data is kept, requests from clients and the consent they have given.

#Accept the Data Processing Agreement

The Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is the contract GDPR requires between your business and Nola. Your business decides how client data is used; Nola stores and processes it only for you and keeps it safe. Until it is accepted, the card is marked Not accepted.

1. Open Settings → Privacy.
2. Click Read the DPA to read it.
3. Click Accept DPA.

The card then shows the date you accepted, with a link to View the DPA. Accepting is recorded in the audit log. Only the business owner can accept it: anyone else sees a line asking them to get the owner to accept it. For questions about the agreement, or a signed copy, use Contact Nola support on the card.

#Set your retention policy

A nightly job cleans up old data based on the numbers you set here.

1. Enter the numbers you want, in whole months or days. Set a field to 0 to turn that cleanup off.
2. Check the line below the fields: it says how many clients the next nightly run would anonymise with that number, with a few of their names.
3. Click Save policy.

Body measurements, progress photos and weekly check-ins from workout programmes are health information. They are always deleted after two years, whatever you set here. Progress photos are kept only while the member allows them: withdrawing deletes them at once. Only the member and their own trainer can see them, not owners or managers.

Financial records such as invoices and transactions follow Estonia's 7-year accounting minimum. Anonymising a client keeps those records and only removes the personal details. It also deletes the member photo, emergency contact, health declaration, client notes (including injury notes), trainer conversations and their training (programmes, logged workouts, measurements and weekly check-ins), ends their trainer assignments, and revokes their door passes, PINs and cards. Imported bank payments keep the amount but lose the payer's name and message.

#Handle data requests

The Data request queue lists pending requests recorded for your business. Each one shows its type (Data export or Deletion) and the date it was requested.

• Click Mark done once you have handled it.
• Click Reject if the request cannot be met, for example because you cannot verify who sent it.

Most clients ask you directly, by email or at the desk. Handle those requests like this:

• For a copy of their data: open the client on Clients, click ⋯ at the top of the card and choose Export data. You get one JSON file with everything your business holds about them: their card, bookings, payments, wallet, memberships, door visits, training, notes and the messages you sent them. Measurements and goals a member recorded themself while not sharing their training with a trainer are left out; the file only says how many there are. The option shows for the Owner and Manager (they need access to clients, money and exports), and only on clients they can see. Clients with a Nola account can also download their own data from Privacy in their account. See Your privacy and data.
• To be forgotten: end any membership they have, remove the client on Clients, then open Settings → Trash and click Delete forever. This erases their personal data the same way as anonymising; past bookings, invoices and payments stay for your records. See Trash and restore.

Clients left in Trash are erased automatically 90 days after you removed them. When a client deletes their Nola account from Privacy in their account, their card at your business is erased the same way.

#Check consent

Consent overview shows what your clients have agreed to. Clients choose this in their profile, and staff can change it when editing a client. A line explains each kind of consent:

• Marketing: may receive offers and newsletters.
• Rankings: may appear in public rankings and match results.
• Photos and video: agrees to be photographed and filmed.

Below it, a count per kind shows how many of your clients agreed, for example Marketing: 3 of 38. Only current clients count: clients in Trash and anonymised clients are never counted or listed. A business with more than 2,000 clients sees or more after the total, because only the oldest 2,000 cards are checked. The table lists up to 500 clients who agreed to at least one, with Yes or No for each kind; a kind nobody has agreed to gets no column. A line under the table says how many other clients have not agreed to any. While no client has agreed to anything, the card says so instead of showing a table.

Rankings shows only while Players and rankings is on under Settings → Modules, which is off by default for gyms. See Modules explained. The Clients list shows the same consents in its own column.

Marketing needs a recorded yes: a client with no answer gets no campaigns. Every campaign email has an unsubscribe link. A client who uses it, or marks the email as spam, has their marketing consent turned off, and the consent record shows when and how.

For members, Nola also records which version of your membership terms, waiver and health declaration each member accepted, when and how. The health declaration keeps only the answer (fit to train, or check before training), never a health condition. See Member documents and failed payments. Campaigns reach only clients who agreed to marketing, never anonymised ones. Member automations and personal messages from the At risk list go only to members who gave marketing consent.

#Related

• Clients
• Trash and restore
• Audit log
• Campaigns and marketing