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When you need it
- Your form asks about health, an injury or anything a customer would not want in an email.
- You need to show that private answers are properly protected.
Before you start
- Marking a question sensitive affects new answers only. Answers already given stay as they are.
- The key comes from the security keys in your website’s wp-config.php. Keep a safe copy of that file: if those keys change, encrypted answers can never be read again.
Step by step
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Open CaliDiary → Booking form and press Edit beside the question, or add a new one.
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Tick Sensitive (encrypted) and save the form.
[Screenshot to come] It will show: A question open for editing with “Sensitive (encrypted)” ticked.Marking a booking-form question sensitive. (Booking form → a question’s Edit window) -
New answers to that question are stored encrypted. Emails to you simply say that an encrypted answer is waiting in CaliDiary, rather than carrying it.
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To read one, open the booking and press Show encrypted answers. Only staff allowed to see the booking can do this.
[Screenshot to come] It will show: A booking open, with the “Show encrypted answers” button in place of the answer text.A booking holding an encrypted answer, hidden until it is asked for. (Overview → a booking) -
Spreadsheets leave these answers out. An Admin who needs them can tick Include encrypted answers beside Download spreadsheet.
Tips
- Ask only what you genuinely need. The safest private answer is the one you never collected.
- Encrypted answers are still included in a customer’s privacy export, and are erased with the customer, so your duties under data protection are met either way.
- Your website host’s database backups hold only the encrypted form, which is the point: a copy of the database alone gives nothing away.
Common problems
“This answer could not be read.”
The security keys in wp-config.php have changed since the answer was saved, or the site was moved to one with different keys. The answer cannot be recovered. Ask the customer again, and restore the original wp-config.php if you still have it.
The answer is missing from my email
That is deliberate. Email is not a safe place for private answers, so the email tells you one is waiting and you read it in CaliDiary.
Show encrypted answers is not there
Your role does not allow it, or the booking has no encrypted answers on it. Check the person’s role under Team and locations → Team → Roles.
Older answers are still readable in plain text
Only answers given after you ticked the box are encrypted. Earlier ones stay as they were; delete them if they should not be kept.