Privacy, stored data, and GDPR tools

Understand metadata processing, default retention, personal-data tools, full-copy obligations, and local storage.

Written By Kelsey

Last updated About 1 month ago

Always Alert runs inside the site’s WordPress installation and keeps a limited metadata-only activity log for notification assurance.

This article describes the product’s technical behaviour. It is not legal advice; the site owner should assess its own lawful basis, notices, agreements, and retention rules.

What is stored

An activity entry can include:

  • local and GMT timestamp;

  • status code and reason;

  • subject line;

  • short recipient summary;

  • fallback recipient email address;

  • BCC, CC, or To method;

  • detected source such as Fluent Forms or Generic wp_mail.

Aggregate monitoring data includes last-seen timestamps and totals per source.

What is not stored

Always Alert does not store:

  • email bodies or message HTML;

  • submitted form field values;

  • attachments;

  • raw mail headers.

Source attribution may briefly inspect a small in-memory message excerpt. It is discarded immediately and is not saved to the database.

Where the data goes

The log and monitoring state remain in the site’s WordPress database. Always Alert does not transmit the log to Always Apps infrastructure.

The site’s existing SMTP, hosting, or transactional email provider remains responsible for processing the emails it sends.

Retention

Log entries are automatically pruned after the configured retention period. The default is 30 days, and administrators can choose 1 to 365 days under Always Alert → Settings.

Aggregate monitoring counters remain for the life of the installation unless the plugin is uninstalled.

Choose a retention period that is proportionate to the site’s troubleshooting and accountability needs.

WordPress privacy tools

Always Alert registers with the WordPress personal-data tools:

  • Tools → Export Personal Data returns Always Alert log entries that reference the requested email address.

  • Tools → Erase Personal Data removes Always Alert log entries that reference the requested email address.

  • Settings → Privacy → Policy Guide includes suggested Always Alert privacy wording that administrators can adapt for the published policy.

The plugin’s Always Alert → Compliance page summarises these controls and links to the WordPress tools.

Aggregate counters do not contain direct identifiers and are not part of the email-address export or erasure match.

Fallback and emergency recipients

Fallback copies, emergency oversight, and the optional post-launch full submission copy send form content to additional recipients through the site’s normal mail transport.

Before configuring any additional recipient, ensure they are authorised to access the content and covered by the site’s lawful basis, privacy notice, contracts, and any required data processing agreement.

Post-launch heartbeats versus full copies

The default post-launch heartbeat contains metadata such as site name, source, form name where available, timestamp, and dispatch status. It excludes the original subject, recipients, form fields, and attachments.

The separate full submission copy option sends the original notification content to the monitoring recipient. It is off by default and creates an additional data transfer even though Always Alert does not store that content.

CSV exports

Downloaded log CSV files leave WordPress and must be protected and deleted according to your own policy. Export only when needed and store files in an access-controlled location.

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