Contact details

When contact details are on, the chat shows a compact card asking for the fields you picked: name, email, phone, location (city and country), address and up to three custom fields such as an order number or a topic. Visitors only see fields they have not filled in yet, and they can view, change or remove their details later from Your details in the chat menu.

• Off by default for every bot. Nothing changes for existing widgets or apps until you turn it on.
• Available on every plan.
• Details from your signed identity token (name, email) show as Verified; everything a visitor types shows as Self-reported and never overwrites verified values.
• Phone numbers and addresses are stored encrypted. The assistant may use only the visitor's self-reported name to greet them; it never sees their email, phone or address, and self-reported details never unlock account tools.

1. 01

   Open the bot's Contact details tab

   Bots → your bot → Contact details. Owners and admins can change it; members see it read-only.

2. 02

   Choose when to ask

   After the first answer (the default and least intrusive), when the visitor asks for a person, or before the chat starts.

3. 03

   Pick the fields

   Set each field to Off, Optional or Required, and add up to three custom fields (text, choice list or checkbox). Ask only for what you need.

4. 04

   Add your notice and privacy policy link

   The privacy link is required to turn the card on (it starts as the bot's privacy policy link). Add a short notice saying why you ask, and a grievance contact if you serve India.

5. 05

   Check the preview and save

   The preview next to the form shows the card as visitors will see it.

Visitors must fill in the required fields removes the Skip button. It stops visitors from reaching a person (or, with Before the chat starts, from chatting) until they send the required fields. It needs at least one required field, and only new widget versions enforce it: older widgets and apps keep working without the card. After a Skip, the visitor is not asked again for the number of days you set (30 by default).

Watch out: Asking for a postal address is rarely needed. Data protection laws expect you to collect the minimum; turn on Address only if you deliver or visit.

Your business decides why contact details are collected, so you are the controller (a data fiduciary under India's DPDP Act) and Kothadesk processes the details for you under the data processing agreement. That means:

• Tell visitors why you ask and link your privacy policy. The card always shows your notice and the link; the default notice is translated into the visitor's language.
• Have a lawful basis for each purpose. Replying to the visitor's own request is usually enough for the chat itself; marketing needs separate consent.
• Marketing opt-in is a separate, unticked checkbox. Only visitors who tick it have agreed; the time and the exact wording are recorded with the contact.
• Name a grievance contact (DPDP) and answer requests to see, correct or delete details.
• Do not target children: under the DPDP Act you need verifiable parental consent for anyone under 18, and the GDPR sets similar rules.
• Keep details only as long as you need them (see Retention below).

In the Inbox, the Contact details section next to the conversation shows every value with a Verified or Self-reported badge (hover it to see where the value came from: the chat form, the offline form, your identity token or your team), custom answers with their labels and an Opted in to marketing chip with the date. Phone numbers are masked; Show reveals the full number and records it in the audit log. Edit corrects or adds details you learned in the chat.

Conversation lists show the self-reported name or email of anonymous visitors, and the conversation view shows the contact next to the visitor's page and browser. Handoff emails include the name, email, masked phone and city.

Contacts in the sidebar lists everyone with contact details. A contact appears when a visitor fills in the contact form or the offline message form, or when your team adds details in a conversation. Signing in with your identity token alone does not create a contact; once a signed-in visitor fills something in, their token details show as Verified. Search by name, email, phone or custom answer and filter by bot, source, verified, marketing opt-in, country and date. Open a contact to see all fields, the consent with its date, the change history and their conversations; edit the details or erase them.

• Owners, admins and members see every contact; agents only see contacts from conversations they may open in the Inbox.
• Erase contact details deletes the details and consent but keeps the conversations. To delete the visitor with every conversation, use Erase visitor data in a conversation.
• Export CSV (owners and admins) downloads the filtered list. Phone numbers are masked unless you tick Include phone numbers; ticking also adds the full numbers and postal addresses. Every export is recorded in the audit log.

Contact details are erased automatically a set number of days after their last change: 365 by default, and you can shorten it to as little as 30 days. Erasing a visitor removes their contact details at once, and a visitor data export includes the details, their change history and offline-form contacts.