Event registration export permissions
Registration data ends up in the caterer's inbox, the badge printer's spreadsheet and three committee laptops, and no one decided who should have what.
The short answer
Export permissions answer one question per role: which columns does this person or supplier need to do their task, and nothing more. Set them by role, give each role a purpose-built export, and log every export that leaves your control.
Most suppliers need counts or a short list, not the full registration record. Give the caterer dietary totals, the printer names and badge fields, and finance payment status.
A role and column matrix
Start from the task. The columns below are examples; check them against your own data dictionary.
| Role | Task | Columns it needs | Columns it does not need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secretariat | Run registration and answer delegates. | Most columns, within the system. | Bulk copies on personal devices. |
| Finance | Invoice and reconcile payments. | Invoice name, payment reference, amount, status. | Dietary, access, session choice. |
| Caterer | Prepare meals. | Aggregate dietary counts, see dietary reconciliation. | Names, emails, organisations. |
| Badge printer | Print badges. | Badge name, organisation, category. | Email, phone, payment, dietary. |
| Venue | Plan rooms and access. | Counts by session, access requests only where the venue needs them. | Names and contact details. |
| Speaker liaison | Brief speakers. | Speaker records only. | Delegate list. |
| Check-in team | Check people in. | Name, reference, category, badge status. See check-in throughput. | Payment, dietary detail, contact details. |
Rules to write down
- Who may create an export, and who may approve a new type of export.
- How the file travels: a shared link with access control, rather than an attachment sent to a group.
- Whether names are replaced with reference numbers for supplier planning.
- A log of each export: who, when, columns, recipient and purpose.
- When the recipient must delete their copy, and how they confirm they did.
Questions for your data protection contact
Whether you may share a given field with a supplier, what a supplier agreement should say about the data, how long a copy may be kept and what to do if a file goes to the wrong person are questions for your data protection contact. This page does not state what the law requires.
A routine for each export
- Name the recipient, the task and the date it is needed.
- Choose the columns from the matrix, not from the default export.
- Generate the file and open it to check that nothing extra is included.
- Send it by the agreed route and record it in the log.
- On the agreed date, ask the recipient to confirm deletion and record the answer.
Worked example · Fictional example
A secretariat replaces one full list with four purpose-built exports
Fictional organisation and figures, written to show the level of detail that is useful.
Persatuan Fiktif Pengamal Sumber Manusia circulated its full 260-person spreadsheet to the caterer, printer and venue. At the next event, the secretariat issues four exports instead: dietary totals for the caterer, badge fields for the printer, session counts for the venue and a payment list for finance.
Each export is logged, shared by access-controlled link, and each recipient is asked to confirm deletion two weeks after the event. A late change in dietary counts goes out as a replacement totals sheet, not a new copy of the full list.
Use this yourself
Export permissions sheet and log
Fill the matrix for each role, then use the log for every export.
| Role or recipient | Purpose | Columns allowed | Approved by | Route | Delete by | Deletion confirmed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caterer | Meal preparation | Dietary totals only | ||||
| Badge printer | Printing badges | Badge name, organisation, category | ||||
| Venue | Room planning | Session counts | ||||
| Finance | Invoices and reconciliation | Invoice name, reference, status | ||||
| Check-in team | Arrival | Name, reference, category |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Few suppliers receive data and one person sends all exports.
- The platform lets you set roles and control the columns.
- Your data protection contact has already given you the rules.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Many suppliers and volunteers need different slices of the list.
- The registration platform has limited role controls and exports are made by hand.
- Past events sent the full list widely and the committee wants it tightened.
Need supplier data requests organised and tracked?
A conference project lead can build the role matrix with your secretariat, ask each supplier what columns they actually need, run the export log and chase deletion confirmations. What may be shared and kept stays a question for your data protection contact.
Questions organisers ask
Should suppliers get the full delegate list?
Usually not. Start from what each supplier needs for their task and give that. Whether sharing a given field is permitted is a question for your data protection contact.
Is an emailed spreadsheet acceptable?
A link with access control is easier to track and withdraw than an attachment that can be forwarded. Ask your data protection contact what route they recommend.
How long should suppliers keep the data?
Agree a date in advance, tell them in writing and ask for confirmation of deletion. The period itself is for your data protection contact.
Does our registration platform handle role-based exports?
Check the platform's own documentation or support for what roles and export controls it offers, and test each role with fictional delegates.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.