Off-boarding stages with Right to be Forgotten

Once the relationship has deteriorated to a point where the consumer is actioning their Right to be Forgotten, it is important to define stages that the consumer will witness. A process that helps them feel comfortable, informed and in control. In view of this I propose these stages to help frame the situation, set expectations, agreements, and consumer responsibility.

Acknowledged
How does the business acknowledge the request and what it means. Reminding the consumer of earlier statements made, functionality lost, could help in that acknowledgement.  

Actioned
How can the user have a role in the process. Part of taking personal responsibility requires interface elements to be actionable by the user. 

At on-boarding the use of radio buttons in T&Cs to acknowledge agreement is common. Although legally accepted as a user interface it fails as consumers often overlook the text and just click the button. 

Observed
How should the consumer observe deletion? What is the time frame? What type of process? What trusted party endorses the process? There are going to be various issues and approaches. From immediate ones that could use an animation, to scheduled events requiring a different type of feedback. Ultimately the consumer needs to observe a satisfying and conclusive end to their consumer data. 

Agreed
How can parties agree it has happened? What processes have been completed? What evidence can be provided and who is the authority that will authorise it?

The consumer needs to feel confident that a process has been completed. They should be able to show something that proves deletion has taken place. It is not an easy task, as outlined in earlier passages with the burden of proof issue.

Joe Macleod

Joe Macleod is founder of the worlds first customer ending business. A veteran of product development industry with decades of experience across service, digital and product sectors.

Head of Endineering at AndEnd. TEDx Speaker. Wired says “An energetic Englishman, Macleod advises companies on how to game out their endgames. Every product faces a cycle of endings. It's important to plan for each of them. Not all companies do." Fast Company says “Joe Macleod wants brands to focus on what happens to products at the end of their life cycle—not just for the environment but for the entire consumer experience.”

He is author of the Ends book, that iFixIt called “the best book about consumer e-waste”. And the new book –Endineering, that people are saying “defines and maps out a whole new sub-discipline of study”. The DoLectures consider the Endineering book one of the best business books of 2022.

www.mrmacleod.com
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Ends principles for GDPR

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Flow through end states in GDPR.