If you run GoHighLevel for a UK or EU business, data protection isn't only HighLevel's job. HighLevel provides the tools, but you decide what data you collect, how you get consent and what you send. This guide covers what GDPR and the marketing rules mean in practice, and exactly how I set up GoHighLevel accounts to handle them.
This is practical guidance from building these systems, not legal advice. For your specific situation, check with a qualified adviser.
Who is responsible for what
- You are the data controller. You decide why and how your customers' data is used, so compliance is ultimately your responsibility.
- HighLevel is a data processor. It stores and processes data on your instructions and, according to its data processing agreement, doesn't use your contacts' data for its own purposes.
- If an agency or freelancer manages your account, they're usually acting as a processor too, and you should have an agreement with them that covers data handling.
Step 1: Get HighLevel's data processing agreement
GDPR requires a data processing agreement (DPA) with any processor. HighLevel provides one, and at the time of writing you can download it from the agency account under Settings → Compliance → GDPR Compliance. Keep a copy with your records.
Step 2: Understand where the data goes
HighLevel is a US company, so UK and EU personal data is transferred to the US. HighLevel states that it participates in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, including the UK Extension, and its DPA includes Standard Contractual Clauses for European data. Mention this transfer in your own privacy notice.
Step 3: Get marketing consent right
GDPR covers personal data generally, but marketing emails and texts have their own rules: PECR in the UK and the ePrivacy rules in the EU. The core rule is the same: you generally need consent before sending marketing messages to individuals.
The UK "soft opt-in"
In the UK you can email or text existing customers without fresh consent, but only if all of these are true:
- You got their details during a sale, or negotiations for a sale
- You're marketing your own similar products or services
- They had a clear chance to refuse marketing when you collected their details
- Every message gives them an easy way to opt out
Everyone else needs clear, specific consent. The stakes went up recently: the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 raised maximum PECR fines to £17.5 million, and the ICO has fined companies for unlawful marketing messages in 2026.
EU countries implement the ePrivacy rules in their own national laws, so the details, including any similar existing-customer exemption, vary by country.
Step 4: Build consent into your GoHighLevel forms
- Use separate, unticked checkboxes for email marketing and SMS marketing. Never pre-tick them, and never make them required to submit the form.
- Say exactly what people are agreeing to: who will contact them, about what, and by which channel.
- Record the consent: save the date, the source (which form or page) and the wording in custom fields, so you can prove it later.
- Use double opt-in for email lists: a confirmation email that the person clicks. It isn't strictly required everywhere, but it gives you much stronger proof of consent.
Step 5: Make opting out work everywhere
- Include an unsubscribe link in every marketing email.
- Make sure STOP replies to texts are honoured automatically.
- Use GoHighLevel's Do Not Disturb (DND) settings per channel, and check that your workflows respect them, especially ones that send texts.
- Separate service messages (appointment reminders, order updates) from marketing, so opting out of marketing doesn't break someone's appointment reminders.
Step 6: Handle people's data rights
People can ask to see, correct or delete their data. Decide in advance who handles these requests and how:
- Access: export the contact's record, conversations and notes.
- Erasure: delete the contact, and check other tools you sync with.
- Objection to marketing: set DND and add a suppression tag so they're never re-imported into a campaign.
Step 7: Tidy up the rest of the account
- Cookies: funnels, websites and chat widgets that set non-essential cookies need a consent banner.
- Retention: don't keep cold leads forever. Set a rule, for example archiving or deleting contacts with no activity after a set period, and automate it.
- Access control: give each staff member and contractor their own user with only the permissions they need, and use two-factor authentication.
- Privacy notice: list HighLevel as a processor, mention the US transfer, and explain how people can contact you about their data.
A quick checklist
- HighLevel DPA downloaded and filed
- Privacy notice updated (HighLevel, US transfer, contact details)
- Separate, unticked email and SMS consent checkboxes on every form
- Consent date, source and wording saved on each contact
- Unsubscribe and STOP working, with DND respected in workflows
- Service messages separated from marketing
- A process for access and deletion requests
- Cookie banner on funnels and sites
- Retention rule for old contacts
- Individual user logins with 2FA
Want this set up for you?
I build GoHighLevel accounts for UK and European businesses with consent capture, unsubscribe handling and tidy data records built in from the start. If your account is already running, a $97 audit will show where it stands against this checklist. See my GoHighLevel VA plans or pricing. US clients should read my A2P 10DLC guide instead.