Little data, three questions
A typical booking collects a name, a contact and the services chosen. For each one, three questions need answering: why it's needed, how long it's kept and who can see it. Those answers are given before the form goes live, not when somebody asks.
Name and service are needed to perform the appointment. Email is there to confirm and remind. Phone is there if the salon uses it to warn about a change: if it never does, asking for it as required is collecting data with no purpose, and it's the most widespread mistake.
The free-text note deserves separate attention. It's the field where people spontaneously write things nobody asked for — allergies, pregnancies, treatments — which belong to more sensitive categories. It should be handled with the same care as a technical record, not as an ordinary comment.
Why each field is asked for
The chart is qualitative and shows how necessary each field is to perform the appointment.
Field, purpose and retention
The table links each field collected to the purpose that justifies it.
| Field | Why it's needed | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Identifying the appointment | Always necessary |
| Confirmation and reminder | Required only if you use it | |
| Phone | Urgent notices | Don't ask if you don't use it |
| Free-text notes | The client's own notes | May contain sensitive data |
How to set it up
List the fields
And the concrete purpose of each.
Drop the pointless required ones
If you don't use it, don't ask.
Link the privacy notice
Where people book, not only on the home page.
Define retention
With your adviser, and stick to it.
To sort out
- Make required only the fields you genuinely use.
- Link the privacy notice where people book, not only on the home page.
- Treat free-text notes as sensitive information.
The simplest test is to ask, field by field, what would happen without it. If the answer is "nothing", the field shouldn't be required: any data collected and never used is a risk with no upside, and one more reason to abandon the form.
Another practical point is contact uniqueness. If email and phone identify two different records for the same person, public booking shouldn't pick one by itself or reveal that the person is already a client: it stops, and the salon resolves it internally.
Booking without an account, fields you decide
In Saloria the client books without creating an account: name and at least one service are the only always-required fields, and the salon decides whether surname, notes, email and mobile are required. If email and phone turned out to match two different records, public booking stops without revealing anything about whether that person is already a client.
Frequently asked questions
What data does a booking need?
Name and services chosen. Email and phone only if you genuinely use them to confirm, remind or notify.
Are free-text notes a problem?
They need care: people spontaneously write allergies or treatments there, which belong to more sensitive categories.
Does the client need an account?
No, and not having one reduces the data collected. In Saloria booking happens without an account, with a link to change or cancel.