What do I need before I start?
- The request. It reaches Actorly from Shopify. A new one raises the notification "A customer data request is waiting for your reply" and appears in the list on this page.
- A way to reach your customer. Actorly gives you the file. You send it, because Actorly does not contact your customers.
- To know what Actorly holds. Actorly stores some personal details about customers when they appear in a change it records: a customer's name (and the email address for a customer with no name, because Shopify uses it as the name), whether a customer agreed to email or text marketing, a default address and the shipping and billing addresses on an order, including phone numbers, and the notes on a customer, an order or a draft order. Actorly does not otherwise fetch a customer's account email address or phone number.
How do I answer a request?
What do the statuses and deadlines mean?
| In the table | What it means |
|---|---|
| Status: Open | The request is waiting for your reply. |
| Status: Handled | You marked it handled. The window shows "Handled" and when. |
| Status: Customer data erased | The customer's data was erased at Shopify's request. The file says so. |
| Reply due: N days left | Whole days remaining of the 30 days Shopify allows. |
| Reply due: Due today | The deadline is within the next 24 hours. It can show the day before the due date. |
| Reply due: N days overdue | The deadline has passed. |
| No reply needed | Nothing to send. |
A banner appears when a request is past its deadline: "N customer data requests are past their 30-day deadline. Download what Actorly holds, send it to your customer, then mark the request as handled." The notification for an open request is shown as information at first, as a warning as the deadline nears, and as critical once it is due. The list shows the latest requests, with "Showing the latest N requests."
What do the counts in the request window mean?
The counts carry a state line that says how complete they are.
| State line | What it means |
|---|---|
| These counts are complete for the parts of your store Actorly has finished importing. | The normal case. |
| Actorly was still importing part of your store's history, so these counts may be incomplete. | The import was running when the request arrived. |
| Part of your store's history could not be imported, so these counts may be incomplete. | An import failed. |
| Actorly had not started recording part of your store's history, so these counts may be incomplete. | Some kinds were not yet recorded. |
| Actorly could not read your store's history when the request arrived. The download reads it again now. | The counts could not be read; the file will be read fresh. |
What can go wrong when I download or mark it?
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Too many downloads in a minute. Wait a moment and try again. | Downloads are limited. | Wait a moment. |
| Actorly could not read your store's history just now. Try again in a few minutes. The request stays open. | The history could not be read. | Try again later. |
| This request could not be found. | The request is not there. | Reload the page. |
| The file could not be downloaded. Try again. | The download failed. | Try again. |
| The request could not be marked as handled. Try again. | Saving failed. | Try again. |
| The list could not be loaded | The list of requests could not be read, so no table is shown. | Choose Try again on the banner. |
What is a data request, and what is an erasure?
They are different requests from Shopify. A customer data request asks what you hold about a customer: you answer it, within the 30 days, and nothing is deleted. A customer erasure request asks that a customer's data be removed: Actorly acts on it automatically, removing that customer's personal values, and the personal values on the orders the request names, from your history. A store erasure request arrives 48 hours after an uninstall: see Uninstall Actorly and what happens to your data.
A worked example
Sample: a request is received on the 1st. On the 10th the table shows Open, Reply due "21 days left". You choose View. The window shows the customer, "Orders named" and the counts: Customer records 1, Order records 3, Recorded changes 5, and the state line that the counts are complete for the parts already imported. You choose Download what Actorly holds and get a JSON file. You email it to the customer. You choose Mark as handled and confirm. The status reads Handled, the notification clears, and the request stays in the list. If you had not marked it by the 31st, the overdue banner would appear.
Frequently asked questions
Does Actorly answer the customer for me?
No. The request is not handled automatically. You send the file to the customer yourself.
How long do I have to reply?
Shopify allows 30 days. The Reply due column counts the days left.
Is the file stored anywhere?
No. It is a JSON file built when you download it from your store's history.
What happens when Shopify sends an erasure request instead?
That one is automatic. Actorly removes that customer's personal values, and the personal values on the orders the request names, from the history. Afterwards it keeps the customer's Shopify ID, the time of the erasure and the numbers of that customer's orders, so the details are not stored again, until your store's data is erased.
Does downloading the file close the request?
No. Only Mark as handled resolves it. Downloading alone does not.
Where do I see all requests?
Settings, Data and privacy, under Customer data requests. A new request also appears in the Notifications bell.
Can I download the file more than once?
Yes, within a limit: "Too many downloads in a minute. Wait a moment and try again." The window shows Downloads and Last downloaded.