CONTACT DATA QUALITY · Workflow idea
For a contact list the organization is authorized to maintain, check selected email addresses for basic validity and record the result beside the source row. Explain the check to data owners, protect personal contact details, treat uncertain results as inconclusive, and verify the person’s communication preferences and lawful contact basis separately before any outreach or list suppression.
01 / The starting point
An approved contact list, an authorized purpose, and an appropriate processing basis
“Flag possible address-quality issues without making assumptions about a person or their willingness to hear from you.”
02 / The work
Checks email addresses in a maintained contact table and records a validation status for each address.
Use only contact records the organization is permitted to process for the stated data-quality need.
Send only the address needed for checking and keep unrelated personal details out of the request.
Preserve the original value and distinguish confirmed findings from unknown outcomes.
Check ambiguous results with the data owner instead of automatically removing a person.
Verify preferences and applicable contact rules before any message is sent.
03 / The result
Contact rows with a validation status, review date, and follow-up owner.
Data · Example outcome
Contact rows with a validation status, review date, and follow-up owner.
A validation result cannot prove who controls an address, whether it will receive mail, or whether a person agreed to marketing. Limit access and retention, treat unknown outcomes carefully, and keep contact eligibility, consent, and opt-out checks separate from address quality.
04 / Make it yours
A few choices shape the work around your team.
Identify the data owner, reason for validation, and who may access results.
Share only the required address, restrict result access, and set a deletion period.
Treat unknown outcomes as unresolved and let an owner correct inaccurate records.
Maintain independent consent, suppression, and communication-preference checks.
Keep exploring
Organize submitted contact information into consistent fields and keep uncertain details out of downstream records.
Check stored business email addresses and keep uncertain results away from unreviewed outreach.
Use an approved company identifier to prepare proposed business contact details for a matched spreadsheet record. Keep the result accurate, appropriately private, and ready for an accountable person to review.