Consent import file

What a file for Records → Import CSV must hold, and what each row's result means. The task is in Import consent from a file.

File rules#

Rule	Detail
Encoding	UTF-8, with or without a byte order mark. A file that does not read as UTF-8 is refused: save it as CSV UTF-8.
Header	The first row names the columns. Every later row is one person.
Delimiter	A comma, semicolon or tab, whichever occurs most in the header row.
Quotes	Double quotes around a cell that holds the delimiter or a line break. `""` inside quotes is one quote. A quote never closed stops the file.
Apostrophes	An apostrophe before `=`, `+`, `-` or `@`, written by a spreadsheet to stop a formula, is removed.
Size	Up to 50 MB and 100,000 rows.
Where it is read	In your browser. Only the mapped values reach the server, in batches of 250 rows. The file is not stored.

Columns#

Field	Required	Holds
Identifier	Yes	The person's customer id, email address, phone number or device id. You choose the type.
More identifiers	No	Up to five more columns, each with its type. The record can be found, withdrawn and erased by any of them.
Consent date	Yes	When the person consented, in the chosen date format.
One field for each purpose that is not always on	Yes	The answer, or Granted for every row or Refused for every row.
Expiry date (optional)	No	When the consent ends. Without it, the record expires after the form's term, counted from the day of import.
Last activity (optional)	No	When the person last used your service. Without it, the day of import. Used by Erase after inactivity.
Language (optional)	No	A language tag, or one language for every row.
Country (optional)	No	A two-letter country code, or one country for every row. It decides the law named on the record.
Notice reference (optional)	No	The notice each person saw, or the reference set for the whole file. The SHA-256 of the Notice file (optional) chosen with the file is sealed only on rows whose reference is empty or the same as the reference set for the whole file. A row naming another notice is sealed without a SHA-256.

Column names such as cif, customer id, email, mobile, consent date, expiry date, language, country and the purpose's key or name are matched for you. You can change every match.

Phone numbers must be in international format, + then 7 to 15 digits, such as +919876543210.

Answer values#

Read as	Values, in any case
Granted	`yes`, `y`, `true`, `1`, `granted`, `allowed`, `agreed`
Refused	`no`, `n`, `false`, `0`, `refused`, `declined`, `denied`

Any other value is reported as UNREADABLE_ANSWER, never guessed.

Date formats#

Format	Example
`YYYY-MM-DD`	`2019-03-14`
`DD/MM/YYYY`	`14/03/2019`
`DD-MM-YYYY`	`14-03-2019`
`MM/DD/YYYY`	`03/14/2019`
ISO 8601 with time	`2019-03-14T10:00:00+05:30`

A time after the date is read as HH:mm or HH:mm:ss.
A date without its own offset is read in the time zone you choose, UTC+05:30 (India) unless you change it.
The same format and time zone apply to the expiry and last activity columns.

Row outcomes#

Outcome	Shown as	Meaning
`CREATED`	New records	A new record is written.
`UPDATED`	Records that get a newer answer	The person's record gets this newer answer.
`SKIPPED`	Skipped	The records already say more. Nothing is written.
`FAILED`	Cannot be imported	The row has a problem. Nothing is written.

Download problem rows gives every skipped and failed row with its original columns, plus row, outcome, reason and message. It never holds rows that were written.

Reasons#

Reason	What it means	What to do
`CONSENT_WITHDRAWN_ON_RECORD`	The person withdrew on this form. An earlier answer never replaces a withdrawal.	Nothing. If they consented again, record it as a new answer.
`CONSENT_ALREADY_ON_RECORD`	An answer with this exact date is on record: the row was imported before.	Nothing.
`CONSENT_NEWER_ON_RECORD`	A newer answer is on record.	Nothing.
`CONSENT_ERASED_ON_RECORD`	The person was erased at or after this date.	Nothing. Do not bring them back.
`CONSENT_HELD_UNDER_OTHER_IDENTIFIER`	Under an identifier the row names or one linked to it, the person withdrew or has the same or a newer answer.	Nothing.
`PHONE_NOT_E164`	A phone number is not in international format.	Write it as `+919876543210`.
`SPREADSHEET_NUMBER`	A spreadsheet turned the value into a number, such as `9.19876E+11` or a date serial.	Format the column as text and export it again.
`UNREADABLE_DATE`	The date does not match the chosen format.	Choose the right Date format, or fix the cell.
`UNREADABLE_ANSWER`	The answer is not one of the values above.	Fix the cell.
`MISSING_IDENTIFIER`	The identifier cell is empty.	Fill it, or remove the row.
`ROW_TOO_SHORT`	The row has fewer cells than the header.	Fix the row.
`NOTICE_REFERENCE_INVALID`	The notice reference has characters other than letters, digits, spaces and `. _ : / # ( ) -`.	Fix the cell.
`INVALID_COLLECTED_AT`	The consent date is in the future or before 1990.	Fix the date.
`INVALID_EXPIRES_AT`	The expiry is past, or more than 3,650 days ahead.	Fix the date, or leave the column out.
`INVALID_LAST_ACTIVITY_AT`	Last activity is before the consent date or in the future.	Fix the date.
`INVALID_PURPOSE_DECISIONS`, `INVALID_PARTNER_DECISIONS`	The answers do not match the form version.	Map every purpose.
`INVALID_ROW`	A value is too long or of the wrong kind. `fields` names it.	Fix the cell.
`DAILY_LIMIT_REACHED`	The project's records for the day are used up.	Run the same file again the next UTC day.
`WRITE_FAILED`	The server could not write the row.	Run the same file again. Rows already written are skipped.

The first five reasons are skips: the same 409 codes a write with collectedAt returns. See Errors.

Limits#

Limit	Default
Rows in one file	100,000, set by `CONSENT_IMPORT_MAX_ROWS`
Rows in one batch	250
Records imports may write in a project in one UTC day	100,000, set by `CONSENT_IMPORT_DAILY_ROWS`
Imports writing at the same time in a project	One
A writing import with no batch for 30 minutes	Stopped, and `consent.imported` is sent
A check that is not written within 24 hours	Discarded
Column mapping	16 KB of JSON