Erase a Contact

  • Updated

Erase Contact permanently removes all personal data tied to an email address across Act-On. It deletes list records, behaviour history, subscription preferences, and segment membership everywhere the address appears. This is the tool for fulfilling a privacy obligation - like a GDPR Right-to-Be-Forgotten or CCPA deletion request - or for any case where a contact needs to disappear from your account entirely.

Who does this: Act-On Admins, usually working with the privacy or compliance owner who receives and tracks the request
Time needed: A few minutes per request, plus any CRM cleanup that needs to happen first
Why this matters: Data-subject-rights requests under GDPR, CCPA, and similar regimes come with statutory deadlines and documentation requirements. Erase Contact is how you actually honour the request inside Act-On and produces the confirmation email that becomes your proof of deletion. Deleting the record from a single list does not satisfy the obligation - behaviours, preferences, and other list entries remain.
In plain English: Erase Contact is the full account-wide delete. "Delete Contact" on a list is local cleanup. If someone has asked to be forgotten, you want Erase.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
  • Scope: every list record, segment membership, behaviour, and preference tied to the email address.
  • Access: Admin-only. Contact Support if you're an Admin and don't see the tool.
  • CRM-synced accounts: remove the contact from your CRM first, or it will be re-synced right back in.
  • Proof of deletion: a confirmation email is sent to a designated internal address.
  • Recovery: erased data cannot be restored. The email address can be added again later, but as a brand-new record.
Try it like this: Before completing a GDPR Right-to-Be-Forgotten request, remove the record from your CRM first, then use Erase Contact in Act-On to clear the remaining data. File the confirmation email with the privacy request ticket as your proof of deletion.

When should I use Erase Contact?

Deleting a record from a single list does not remove that contact's behaviours, preferences, or other list entries. Erase Contact removes everything tied to the email address across Act-On.

Common situations:

  • Fulfilling a GDPR, CCPA, or other data-subject-rights request
  • Permanently removing outdated or sensitive personal data
  • Ensuring full deletion so the contact won't reappear in reporting
Note: If you only need to remove the contact from one specific list, use Delete Contact inside the Contact Report instead. Erase Contact is account-wide.

What happens during erasure

Act-On searches for the email address across:

  • All lists and segments
  • Behaviour history
  • Subscription and opt-in preferences
  • Any associated system-mapped fields

Matching data is permanently deleted or anonymised. After erasure, some historical metrics (total clicks, form submissions, etc.) may decrease because those behaviours are removed from the underlying data.

Be careful: Erased data cannot be recovered. The email address can be added to Act-On again later - via CRM sync, a list upload, a form submission, or manual entry - but it will come in as a new record with no history.

Erase a contact

Before you start:

  • Only Admin users can erase contacts. Contact Support if you're an Admin and the option is missing.
  • If your account syncs with a CRM, erase the contact in the CRM first. Otherwise it will be re-synced back in.
  • Every list must have its email column mapped correctly to Contact's E-mail Address.
  1. Go to Settings > Other Settings > Erase Contact.
  2. Enter the email address you want to erase.
    • If the person appears under more than one email address, submit each address separately.
  3. Under Send proof of deletion, enter an internal email address to receive the confirmation.
    • This address is remembered for future requests.
    • Use a shared mailbox so more than one team member can access the proof.
  4. Click Erase.
  5. Review the warning message and type ERASE to confirm.
  6. Click Erase again to submit the request.

Erase Contact interface

Receiving a confirmation email

When the deletion completes, Act-On sends a confirmation email to the internal address you provided. The message includes the erased email address and the date and time the request was processed.

If the request takes longer to complete, Act-On sends an acknowledgment email first, followed by a final confirmation once erasure is finished. Keep both on file with the privacy request so you can demonstrate the timeline if asked.

Next steps

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