Bulk Importing Consent Records

You can import consent records into the OneTrust application in bulk using the templates available on the Import templates screen in Global Settings. Once you've downloaded and completed the respective import template, you can upload it back into the application using either the Import templates screen or the Bulk Import screen. Using the available bulk import templates, the default rate limit for imports is 3k Calls/Minute and 3M Receipts/Day.

Note:

You can use the Create Consent Receipts in Bulk API when bulk importing consent receipts. This bulk endpoint optimizes performance when processing a large number of consent transactions simultaneously. For more information, see API Use Cases & Best Practices.

Once your export is complete, review the data to ensure its accuracy and integrity before importing into your OneTrust tenant.

Available templates for importing consent records

Consent records can be imported using the following bulk import templates available in Global Settings. You can reference the tables below to identify the import template best suited for your use case.

Import Template

Recommended Use

Stream Consent Receipts
Note:

OneTrust strongly recommends using the Stream Consent Receipts import template due to its more robust and consistent performance.

Use this template for larger imports of up to 250,000 data subject consent records. If you intend to import more than 250,000 records, please contact OneTrust Support in advance before performing the import.

This import template can be used in place of the following templates:

  • Create/update consent data subjects

  • Create historic data subject consents

  • Create/update data subject consent

For more information, see To use the Stream consent receipts import template.

Consent data subjects bulk actions import

Use this template to delete data subjects, remove test flags, and add data subject purposes.

For more information, see To use the Consent data subjects bulk actions import template.

Additional templates

Import Template

Recommended Use

Create / Update Data Subject Consent

Use this template for imports of less than 50,000 data subject consent records. For more information, see To use additional consent import templates and Create/update data subject consent.

Create Historic Data Subject Consents

Use this template to import historical consent data to record past events and create past transactions that do not impact the current status of the data subject's consent. For more information, see To use additional consent import templates and Create historic data subject consents.

Create/Update Consent Data Subjects

Use this template to bulk create or update data subjects with data elements. For more information, see To use additional consent import templates and Create/update consent data subjects.

Exclude data subjects from deletion

Use this template to exclude data subjects from being deleted in data retention policies. For more information, see To use additional consent import templates and Exclude data subjects from deletion.

To use the Stream consent receipts import template

The Stream Consent Receipts import template is used to bulk import data subject consent records using a .jsonl file that you can update with a list of individual consent receipt payloads. This import template can be used when performing larger imports of up to 250,000 records.

Note:

If you intend to import more than 250,000 records, please contact OneTrust Support in advance before performing the import.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner to access Global Settings.
  2. On the Global Settings menu, select Data Import > Import Templates. The Import templates screen appears.

  3. Click the Download button for the Stream Consent Receipts import template.
  4. Open the downloaded .jsonl file. The template appears in the following format:
    JSON 
    {"requestInformation": "<collection point jwt>", "identifier": "email@onetrust.com", "purposes": [{"Id": "<purpose guid>"}]}

  5. Update the template with the list of data subject consent records that you want to import. To update the template, replace the following attributes with the respective details for each data subject consent record. Once you've added the necessary data subject consent records, save the file.
    Field
    Description
    "<collection point jwt>"

    Replace <collection point jwt> with the JavaScript Web Token (JWT) for the Collection Point.

    To access the JWT for the Collection Point, navigate to the Integrations tab for a Custom API Collection Point. Then click the Copy Token button within the Your API Token section.

    "email@onetrust.com"

    Replace email@onetrust.com with the identifier for the data subject. The identifier value should be entered in the data type defined for the Custom API Collection Point. For example, if Email is defined as the data subject identifier type, then you must enter an email address for this attribute.

    To determine the data subject identifier type defined for the Collection Point, navigate to the Data Subject Identifier field on the Details tab of the Collection Point Details screen.

    "<purpose guid>"

    Replace <purpose guid> with the corresponding Purpose GUIDs of the purposes included within the data subject consent record.

    To access the GUID for a purpose, navigate to the Processing Purposes screen and select the respective Purpose. The Purpose ID field appears on the Details tab of the Purpose Details screen.

  6. On the Import templates screen, click the New Import button. The New Import modal appears. Complete the fields, as necessary.


    Field
    Description
    Import Name

    Enter the name of the import.

    Import Description

    Enter a brief description of the import.

    Import Type

    Select Stream Consent Receipts.

    File

    Click the Select File button and use the file explorer to select the .jsonl or jsonl.gz file you want to import.

    Note:

    Files larger than 64 MB are not supported. However, jsonl.gz files can be utilized to decrease the file size.

  7. Click the Submit button.

To use the Consent data subjects bulk actions import template

The Consent data subjects bulk actions import template allows you to perform bulk actions on data subjects. You can perform the following action types:

  • Delete data subjects

    Note:

    Receipts related to the data subjects being deleted will also be deleted.

  • Remove test flags

  • Add data subject purposes

  • Change identifier types

Before you can use this bulk import template, you must first export your consent data from OneTrust. If you are exporting from OneTrust:

  1. Select the data subjects you want to edit by creating a bulk export with the type parameter set to DATA_SUBJECTS_BULK_ACTIONS , an actionType parameter, and any necessary filters added. For more information, see Bulk Export APIs and the Bulk Export for Data Subjects, Consent Receipts, and Cookie Receipts recipe in the Developer Portal.
  2. Review the data for integrity and accuracy.
  3. Reimport the data using the Consent data subjects bulk actions import template.
    Note:

    This import will not accept JSON files; please export as .csv.

To reimport your data

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner to access Global Settings.
  2. On the Global Settings menu, select Data Import > Import Templates. The Import templates screen appears.

  3. Click the Download button for the import template.
  4. Open the downloaded file and complete the template for the consent records that you want to import.
    Tip:

    The dowloaded template spreadsheet contains an Instructions tab with guidance on how to enter information and copy values from the Options tab.

  5. On the Import templates screen, click the New Import button. The New Import modal appears. Complete the fields, as necessary.


    Field
    Description
    Import Name

    Enter the name of the import.

    Import Description

    Enter a brief description of the import.

    Import Type

    Select the corresponding import template.

    File

    Click the Select File button and use the file explorer to select the .csv file you want to import.

  6. Click the Submit button.

To use additional consent import templates

Check out the demo video below to learn how to use bulk import for consent records.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner to access Global Settings.
  2. On the Global Settings menu, select Data Import > Import Templates. The Import templates screen appears.

  3. Click the Download button for the import template.
  4. Open the downloaded file and complete the template for the consent records that you want to import.
  5. On the Import templates screen, click the New Import button. The New Import modal appears. Complete the fields, as necessary.


    Field
    Description
    Import Name

    Enter the name of the import.

    Import Description

    Enter a brief description of the import.

    Import Type

    Select the corresponding import template.

    File

    Click the Select File button and use the file explorer to select the .csv file you want to import.

  6. Click the Submit button.

Create/update data subject consent

You can use the Create/update data subject consent import template to bulk import up to 50,000 data subject consent records. When using the Create/update data subject consent import template, the following are important notes to keep in mind:

  • Always save your import files in .csv file format, rather than .xlsx or other spreadsheet file formats. Files saved in .csv format are naturally smaller for the same amount of data being uploaded, which improves processing time.

  • Do not upload files with more than 50,000 rows. Although the import service can accept larger file sizes, for data subject consents, larger files can cause the process to fail.

  • You can upload larger sets of data by separating the data into multiple files. However, you must wait until you get a notification that the previous upload has completed before uploading the next file. Uploading multiple files in quick succession can cause the import to fail.

  • If you need to import large numbers of records or files in a short amount of time, please contact OneTrust Support well in advance. Our support team can help speed up the handling of larger volumes of data if planned and coordinated ahead of time.

  • This template cannot be used with API type collection points when the Allow dynamic configuration setting is enabled when setting up a Custom API Collection Point.

Create historic data subject consents

The Create historic data subject consents import template allows you to import historical consent data that does not affect the current consent status of a data subject. For example, say you have a data subject that currently has given consent to a particular purpose of processing, but you want to create a record in the past that indicates that they had previously given consent and withdrew consent. You can use this import template to import these past events and create past transactions that do not impact the current status of the data subject's consent.

  • This template cannot be used with API type collection points when the Allow dynamic configuration setting is enabled when setting up a Custom API Collection Point.

  • This template does not support the following transaction types:

    • EXPIRED

    • NOTGIVEN

    • OPT_OUT

    • NO_CHOICE

  • Entries are required in the Date column of the Create historic data subject consents import template. The following formats can be used: yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss or yyyy-mm-dd.

Create/update consent data subjects

The Create/update consent data subjects import template allows you to bulk create or update data subjects along with their respective data elements in the application. Up to 50,000 rows can be uploaded per file.

  • This template cannot be used with API type collection points when the Allow dynamic configuration setting is enabled when setting up a Custom API Collection Point.

Exclude data subjects from deletion

The Exclude data subjects from deletion import template allows you to exclude data subjects along with their corresponding consents from your retention policies and deletions.

Bulk Importing Consent Records FAQ

The following responses are supported solutions to frequently asked questions (FAQ) on bulk importing consent records into the OneTrust application. The OneTrust team continuously monitors these inquiries and will make additional FAQ available as they are identified.

What is the recommended file format when bulk importing consent records?

The recommended file format will vary based on the import template, as detailed below:

  • Use .csv format for the Create / Update Data Subject Consent import template.

  • Use .xlsx for the Create Historic Data Subject Consents and Create/Update Consent Data Subjects import templates.

  • Use .jsonl or jsonl.gz for the Stream Consent Receipts import template.

What is the limit of the amount of data that can be uploaded at once?

If using the Create / Update Data Subject Consent, Create Historic Data Subject Consents, or Create/Update Consent Data Subjects import templates, uploads should be limited to 50,000 rows per file. If using the the Stream Consent Receipts import template, uploads should be limited to 250,000 data subject consent records. However, if you are importing more than these limits for the respective template, please contact OneTrust Support in advance before performing the import.

How long is the bulk import process going to take?

If you are using bulk import templates, the traffic will be processed at 3.3k - 4.1k records per minute. Data subject profiles are known to take longer to complete due to the size and amount of data elements that need to be processed.

Can I include data elements along with transactions in a single file?

This is supported in the Stream Consent Receipts import template by adding the "dsDataElements":{} attribute to the list of payloads, as needed. Data elements and transactions should be uploaded separately when utilizing other import templates.