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Zapier email parser data privacy and security

Hi all,

I am trying to understand the way Zapier’s email parser processes and stores data. I haven’t been able to find any information on this online. Questions that are especially interesting for me are for example: how long are the forwarded emails stored? What happens with the parsed information after they are continue down the workflow we have set up?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!

Best

Isab

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10 replies

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @IsabRose 

Data privacy at Zapier

Last updated: January 24, 2021

We take the security of your data seriously.

  • Credentials that you use to connect your accounts to Zapier are protected with bank-level encryption.
  • The only action that Zapier takes on your accounts are those necessary to run the Zaps you create.
  • The raw requests Zapier makes to other services on your behalf are stored for 7 days for troubleshooting purposes, then purged on a rolling basis.
  • User-facing Zap history is stored for longer periods of time (approximately 3 months, never longer than 4 months) so that you can monitor Zapier activity and replay failed Zap runs.

For further information on how your data is managed at Zapier, refer to Zapier's privacy policy.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Hi @IsabRose!

 

The way that data is handled in the Zapier Parser integration is different from the way that Zapier handles your data in the broader sense. The Privacy Policy that Troy shared above relates to how we process and store the data that passes through your Zaps (ie from other apps). 

 

Parser by Zapier acts more like an independent app; the information there is stored differently than the information in your Zaps. The email templates and forwarded emails stay in the Parser app until you delete them. The data stays in the Zap so the Parser can improve the performance of your templates and it allows you to create more templates from existing emails, which also helps the Parser to better select the relevant information from emails.  

 

I hope that’s clear let us know if you have any questions!

I

Hi @IsabRose!

 

The way that data is handled in the Zapier Parser integration is different from the way that Zapier handles your data in the broader sense. The Privacy Policy that Troy shared above relates to how we process and store the data that passes through your Zaps (ie from other apps). 

 

Parser by Zapier acts more like an independent app; the information there is stored differently than the information in your Zaps. The email templates and forwarded emails stay in the Parser app until you delete them. The data stays in the Zap so the Parser can improve the performance of your templates and it allows you to create more templates from existing emails, which also helps the Parser to better select the relevant information from emails.  

 

I hope that’s clear let us know if you have any questions!

Hi Danvers. Thank you for your reply. Does Zapier Parser then have its own Privacy Policy? Parser continuing to save our data without us having the option to delete this is not really an option for us. Do you know if there is a way around this? Would deleting the forwarded emails solve this or would data still stay stored?

Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Hi @IsabRose 

Sorry if I wasn’t clear on this in my last message - you can delete the emails in the Parser Mailbox at any time, either individually (single emails) or you can clear the whole history of the mailbox: 

I hope that clarifies things 🙂

I

Hi @Danvers. Thank you, that does help! Regarding your sentence “The data stays in the Zap so the Parser can improve the performance of your templates” would this data also be deleted when we delete mailbox history and all selected emails?

Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

@IsabRose 

Yes, if you delete the emails in the mailbox then it removes all the data from those emails. 

One important thing to point out is that when you delete the mailbox history (the emails in it), it doesn’t delete the text from the email used to set up the template for the inbox.

You can delete the template/s for the mailbox by deleting the whole mailbox 🙂

I

it doesn’t delete the text from the email used to set up the template for the inbox. You can delete the template/s for the mailbox by deleting the whole mailbox 🙂

Hi @Danvers. First off thank you so much for all your help with this. Its greatly appreciated. I am still a little confused regarding the line above. What is “the email used to set up a template for the inbox”? Maybe an example would help:

  1. Template is set up to know to extract data x and data y (confidential information, always in same format) from emails forwarded → no confidential information in zapier parser so far, only template
  2. Email is forwarded that includes data x and data y → confidential information (data x and data y) in forwarded email  → email can be deleted at a later point
  3. Zapier Parser pulls data x and data y from the forwarded email using the template → confidential information pulled out of email → is the confidential information stored anywhere in the process?
  4. Zap moves data x and data y into predefined g-sheet → confidential information zapped to gsheet → is confidential information stored anywhere after the zap is done?

Sorry if it feels like I am being a nuisance. We just handle data that we need to make sure doesn’t end up being stored anywhere for longer than necessary i.e. goes through Zapier Parser but doesn’t remain there after the Zap.

Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

It’s ok, @IsabRose, I know how important data privacy is!

 

I’ll try to break it down in terms of what happens on our side:

In Parser by Zapier

  • When you create a Parser trigger, you are taken to https://parser.zapier.com/ and create a new inbox. You send an email to the inbox so that you can set up a template that Parser uses to extract the information. This is the first piece of information that’s stored - the email that’s used to create the template is stored in the template.
    • Confidential information is stored in the template, but you can delete it by deleting the template and/or mailbox. 
    • One way around this is to set up the Parser mailbox with a fake email, one that is exactly the same format as the emails you’ll be sending to Parser, but switch the confidential information to fake information. 
  • When you forward emails to Parser, each email is stored by the app so that it gets better at finding the information that you need.
    • Confidential information is stored in Parser, but you can delete it by deleting the emails in the mailbox

 

In the Zap

Any information sent by Zaps (ie the information that goes from Parser to Google Sheets is stored) is covered by Zapier’s Privacy policy:

  • The raw requests Zapier makes to other services on your behalf are stored for 7 days for troubleshooting purposes, then purged on a rolling basis.
  • User-facing Zap history is stored for longer periods of time (approximately 3 months, never longer than 4 months) so that you can monitor Zapier activity and replay failed Zap runs.

For more information on how your data is managed at Zapier generally,  refer to Zapier's privacy policy.

 

I hope that helps!

 

I

Thats brilliant. Definitely solves all my questions!! Thank you so much for all your help!

Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Perfect, glad I could help @IsabRose 🙂

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