Using Subtasks in Request Workflows

You can use subtasks to collaborate with other members of your organization and initiate integration workflows for more effective communication, task delegation, and workflow automation for request processing.

There are two types of subtasks in the Privacy Rights Automation module: user and system.

Subtask Type

Description

User Subtasks

These can be used to delegate common tasks to members of your privacy team. These can be configured in the various workflow stages to establish a formalized process for request intake, review, and fulfillment based on privacy law frameworks and requirements.

System Subtasks

Theses can be used to launch integration workflows to help automate certain processes, such as subtask assignment or Targeted Data Discovery (TDD). These can be added via existing active connections from the Workflow Details screen.

Things to Know

  • When requests are closed or rejected, subtasks in the most current workflow stage will be visible.

  • Subtasks are grouped by their workflow stage. Within each stage, subtasks are launched by their due date then alphabetically.

  • Subtask assignees can view the request related to their assigned subtask. You can leverage permissions to limit the subtask assignees' access to edit the request and to view requests outside of their assignments, but access to their assigned subtask’s request cannot be limited.

For more information on working with active, assigned subtasks, see Configuring the Subtask Queue and Managing Subtasks in the Subtask Pane.

To add a user subtask during workflow setup

  1. On the Privacy Rights Automation menu, click Setup > Workflows.

    The Workflows screen appears.

  2. Click on a workflow.

    The Workflow details screen appears.

  3. Navigate to your desired stage, then click the User subtask button.

    The Add subtask modal appears.

  4. Complete the fields. See Add Subtask Modal Reference - Workflow Details for more information.
  5. Click the Save button or click Save and add button to add additional subtasks before closing the modal.

Add Subtask Modal Reference - Workflow Details



Field
Description
Task name

Enter the name of the subtask

Assignee

Select if you want to assign the subtask to yourself or to someone else.

If you want to assign the subtask to someone else, select their name or enter their email address.

Task description

Use the text editor to write, edit, and format a description of the task.

Deadline

Enter the number of days after the stage start to calculate a subtask deadline.

Note:

Once you enter a deadline date, the Add button will be enabled for the Subtask reminder setting.

Subtask reminder

Enter the number of days before the deadline to remind the Assignee. For more information, see To configure subtask reminders.

Subtask required

Enable to make this subtask required before the workflow stage can be advanced. A data subject request cannot be completed unless all subtasks associated with it are also completed.

This will be OFF by default. Required subtasks will appear with an red asterisk in the Subtasks section.



Comment required (not shown in screenshot)

Enable to require an admin or another user to leave a comment before completing or rejecting the subtask. This will be ON by default.

Resolution required (not shown in screenshot)

Enable to require an admin or another user to select a resolution when they complete or reject the subtask. This will be OFF by default.

For more information, see Requesting Custom Resolutions.

Save and add

Click this button to save the current subtask and keep the Add subtask modal open so you can add another subtask.

To add a user subtask in request details

  1. On the Privacy Rights Automation menu, click Requests.

    The Requests screen appears.

  2. Click on a request.

    The Data subject request details screen appears.

  3. Go to the Subtasks tab.
  4. Click the User subtask button.

    The Add subtask modal appears.

  5. Complete the fields. See Add User Subtask Modal Reference - Request Details for more information.
  6. Click the Send button.

Add User Subtask Modal Reference - Request Details



Field
Description
Task Name

Enter the name of the subtask

Assignee

Select if you want to assign the subtask to yourself or to someone else.

If you want to assign the subtask to someone else, select their name or enter their email address.

Task description

Use the text editor to write, edit, and format a description of the task.

Deadline

Use the date picker to select the due date for the subtask.

Reminder

Use the date picker to select the day on which the assigned user should be reminded of the pending subtask.

Subtask required

Select the check box to make this subtask required. An asterisk will appear next to the Task name.



A data subject request cannot be completed unless all subtasks associated with it are also completed.

Comment required

Enable to require an admin or another user to leave a comment before completing or rejecting the subtask.

Resolution required (not shown in screenshot)

Enable to require an admin or another user to select a resolution when they complete or reject the subtask. For more information, see Requesting Custom Resolutions.

Send and add

Click this button to send the current subtask and keep the Add subtask modal open so you can add another one.

To configure subtask reminders

You can configure multiple reminders to remind assignees about their subtask on, before, or after the deadline.

Note:

Things to Know:

  • You can add multiple reminders to be set on, before, or after the deadline and uniquely assign them to multiple users. Click the Add button to configure additional reminders.
  • Subtask reminders populated off the deadline date are ONLY available for subtasks added via workflow configuration.
  1. In the Add subtask modal, after you've entered the number of days for the Deadline field, the Add button will become available. Choose between the following options, then choose one or more assignee.
    • On Deadline
    • Before Deadline (requires number of days entry)
    • After Deadline (requires number of days entry)


    Attention:

    If your organization uses AWS as a SMTP provider, the maximum number of recipients allowed is 50. Workflow subtask reminders will not be sent if the user list or user group exceeds 50 addresses.

    OneTrust encourages our customers to be mindful of their subtask management and user group administration if this scenario applies to your current account. For more information on SMTP with OneTrust, see Configuring Email Server Settings and Configuring Custom SMTP Email Accounts.

  2. Click the Save button to retain your changes.

To add a suggested connection

For more detailed information on this process, see Adding Connections to Requests.

  1. On the Privacy Rights Automation menu, click Setup > Workflows.

    The Workflows screen appears.

  2. Click on a workflow.

    The Workflow details screen appears.

  3. Navigate to your desired workflow stage.
  4. Click the Add connection button.

    The Add connection pane appears.

  5. Click Create a new subtask and then select from the existing connections to create a new system subtask. Selecting multiple will create a system subtask based on each connection.

    Example of selecting existing connections to create new system subtasks.
  6. Click the Add button. The system subtask will be added to the Subtasks section of the Workflow details screen in the following format: <connection-name>_subtask.

    Example of a system subtask added to the Subtasks section in the Workflow details screen.

To add a system subtask in request details

  1. On the Privacy Rights Automation menu, click Requests.

    The Requests screen appears.

  2. Click on a request.

    The Data subject request details screen appears.

  3. Go to the Subtasks tab.
  4. Click the Add connection button.

    The Add connection pane appears.

  5. Click Create a new subtask and then select from the existing connections to create a new system subtask. Selecting multiple will create a system subtask based on each connection.

    Data subject request details with system subtask creation options
  6. Click the Add button. The new connection will be added as a system subtask with the appended _subtask to the Connection Name.

To check system subtasks logs

You can navigate to a system subtask log hosted in the Integrations module from the Request details screen. This allows users to troubleshoot processing errors with an associated Event ID, Message Key, attempts, and status label.

  1. On the Privacy Rights Automation menu, click Requests. The Requests screen appears.

  2. Click on a request. The Data subject request details screen appears.

  3. Go to the Subtasks tab.
  4. Click the name of the subtask you want to check the logs for. The subtask popover appears. Click the History tab.

  5. Reference this log entry with the system subtask Event ID and Message Key to troubleshoot the processing error(s).

To manage subtask views

You can view subtasks at a glance for your organization, group subtasks, ones assigned just to you, or requests within subtasks in the Requests screen.

  1. On the Requests screen, use the Requests with selector to choose a filter for subtasks.


  2. Your chosen view will populate subtasks for managing. For more information on managing subtasks, see Assigning and Managing Subtasks in Bulk.

To complete a subtask

  1. Go to the Data subject request details screen for the request.
  2. Go to the Subtasks tab.
  3. Click on the name of the task you want to complete. The Task modal appears.


  4. Select Mark as complete from the drop-down menu. The Mark task as complete modal appears.

  5. Select a resolution from the Subtask resolution drop-down menu and add comments in the Comment box.
  6. Use the Add attachment button to upload a document.
    Note:

    Attachments are limited to 2GB.

  7. Select the Mark as complete check box to mark the task as complete. 
    Note:

    When you select the Mark as completed check box, the Task Response field will no longer be editable. 

  8. Click the Mark as complete button.

To view a subtask in the Activity tab

Once a subtask has been completed by the assignee, a comment will appear in the Activity tab stream that shows which assignee completed the specified subtask by name.

  1. Go to the Data subject request details screen for the request.
  2. Go to the History tab.
  3. Review the activity of the request and see which assignee complete the subtask.

Available Subtask Statuses

The following table lists all the possible subtask statuses and their applicable details. For more information, see the OneTrust Developer Portal.

Status

Subtask Type

Code

Description

Open

System

0

"System subtask creation event" has not yet kicked off the integration workflow

Not Run

System

5

Ad hoc system subtask has not run yet. Needs manual intervention to run.

Unassigned

User

20

User subtask is not assigned to any user.

Processing

System

23

System subtask has fired and integration workflow has launched.

Ready for review

System

25

System has updated system subtask with result. Triggered by the add discovery API call.

Complete

System

User

30

Subtask has been marked as complete.

Failed

System

80

Subtask failed to run.

Deleted

System

User

99

Subtask has been deleted.