Terms acceptance and proof of consent

The Terms acceptance field shows a text for the person to read and a box to check that they accept it. Each checked acceptance creates a record that proves what was accepted, when and from where — what you show if someone asks "where is my consent?". At Clínica Vitta, in Miami, the medical history form has two: the procedure terms, required, and the before-and-after photo release, optional.

Setting up the field

In Forms › (form) › Edit › "Fields" card, choose Terms acceptance in New field type and click Add field.

• Question — this is the text next to the checkbox. Write it as a statement: "I have read and accept the procedure consent terms".
• Terms text — the full terms, up to 5,000 characters. Respondents see it above the checkbox, in a scrollable box.
• Answer required — when checked, submission only goes through with the acceptance; without it, "You must accept to continue." appears. When unchecked, the box shows "(optional)".

At Clínica Vitta, the procedure terms are required; the photo release is optional, because the patient can decline and still be treated.

What is recorded

For each checked term, at submission time, the server stores:

• the field's Question, as it was in the version answered;
• a code that identifies the exact terms text the person saw;
• the date and time of submission;
• the connection address, the browser and the approximate location (city, state and country).

An optional term left unchecked creates no record. If the patient did not check the photo release, only the proof of the procedure terms exists.

The record cannot be changed: nobody edits it, not even the account Owner. It only stops existing together with the response, when the response is permanently deleted.

Where to see the proof

• In the response (Responses tab, click the row): the field shows as Accepted in the answers list, and the Consent record section lists each accepted term with the date and time and the connection address.
• In the PDF (Download PDF button): the question comes out with the full terms text, and the Consent record page shows, for each acceptance, the term, date and time, connection address, approximate location, the text code and the Integrity line, which confirms: "The text shown in this document is the same one that was accepted".

The terms and the record always appear in the PDF, even with your own layout and even if someone tries to hide the field.

When you change the terms text

The clinic updated the procedure terms in March. What happens:

• While the change is only in the draft, respondents keep seeing and accepting the old text. It takes effect after Publish.
• Earlier responses keep proving the text that those people accepted: the PDF of a February response shows the February terms, not the current ones.
• New responses record the new text.

So there is no need to keep separate copies of each version of the terms: each response carries proof of the text that was live when it was submitted.

Where to go next

• Electronic signature (Signature, terms and PDF collection) — for when, besides acceptance, the document needs a signature.
• Response PDF (Signature, terms and PDF collection) — the document with the record page.
• Version history (Editing and publishing collection) — each publication, with the terms text of that moment.

In short: the Terms acceptance field shows the terms text and a checkbox, required or optional; each checked acceptance records the question, the exact text accepted, date and time, connection address, browser and approximate location, with no way to edit it; the proof shows up in the response and in the PDF, and changing the terms later does not change what older responses prove.