Collecting data manually in Salesforce is time-consuming—that’s where Salesforce-connected forms come in. By taking advantage of Salesforce-connected forms at your organization, all the data you collect through your forms will end up where it needs to go in Salesforce, with no worries about manual data entry, human error, wasted time, or duplicate data.
However, not all form builders are created equal. In today’s digital world, it’s absolutely crucial to make sure that the form builder you’re using maintains the highest level of security and compliance to protect your organization and its customers from breaches, loss of trust, fines, and other negative consequences. If you’re looking to implement a Salesforce-connected form builder, these are the top five security features you need to look for.
1. Compliance with necessary regulations
First and foremost, make sure the form builder you’re using is compliant with all of the data privacy regulations that apply to your business. For example, if you’re collecting healthcare data through your forms, it’s crucial to use a Salesforce-connected form builder that is compliant with HIPAA. Other regulations to consider include EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, GDPR in Europe, FERPA for higher education, FedRAMP for government organizations, and GLBA & NYDFS for financial organizations.
It’s a lot for an organization to keep up with all these regulations and their changes individually, so choosing a form builder that maintains compliance with all of them is your best bet toward ensuring security and building trust with customers.
2. Secure payment processing
Forms that can connect to Salesforce and process payments are extremely powerful and efficient, but they must also be secure. In order to keep payment data protected, make sure the form builder you’re using is PCI DSS Level 1 certified and adheres to all applicable laws about collecting and storing payment information.
By choosing a PCI DSS Level 1 certified form builder that integrates safely with payment platforms like PayPal and Authorize.net, you and your customers will be able to streamline processes while keeping data safe every step of the way. For example, FormAssembly is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, doesn’t store any cardholder data on its servers, and requires approved payment connectors for processing payments.
3. Sensitive data and admin controls
You don’t want the data you collect through online forms to end up in the wrong hands, so the next security feature you should look for in an online form builder is sensitive data controls. This is especially important if you’re collecting any of the following types of data:
- Credit card numbers
- Passwords
- Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- Protected Health Information (PHI)
With sensitive data control features, you’ll be more likely to avoid unintended access issues. To avoid accidental exposure, make sure the form builder you’re using redacts data by default when you mark it as sensitive, as shown in FormAssembly below.
Administrative controls are also important—with a platform like FormAssembly, users can assign specific users certain permissions to make sure that sensitive information is accessible to only the right people.
4. Encryption in transit and at rest
Encryption is an additional layer of data security that keeps data safe from anyone with a malicious intent that might want to steal information. For peace of mind, look for a form builder that offers TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.2 encryption, which is the industry standard level of encryption. Make sure data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
5. Authentication
To make sure your forms can only be accessed and completed by the right people, look for a form builder that provides authentication protection options. With respondent authentication in place, only people with the correct credentials can access the form. For example, FormAssembly provides these four authentication options:
- SAML Authentication (shown below)
- CAS Authentication
- LDAP Authentication
- Salesforce Communities Authentication
Strengthen customer trust with a secure form builder
When a customer shares information with your organization via an online form, they’re instilling their trust in you to practice good data stewardship and keep them safe—that’s why thousands of Salesforce users opt for FormAssembly’s secure, Salesforce-integrated form builder and data collection platform. Be sure to check out FormAssembly if you need a secure, reliable way to collect data in Salesforce.