Retention Is Risk Management
Keeping data too long increases risk. Deleting too soon violates compliance. Balance is essential.
Retention Drivers
Legal requirements mandate minimum retention. Business needs determine practical value. Cost of storage influences decisions. Risk of breach impacts choices.
Regulatory Requirements
Tax records: 7 years typical. Employment records: varies by jurisdiction. Healthcare: HIPAA requirements. Financial: SEC and other rules.
Retention Categories
Permanent: corporate records, intellectual property. Long-term: contracts, financial records. Short-term: operational data, logs. Immediate deletion: drafts, temporary files.
Policy Components
Data classification scheme. Retention periods by category. Disposal procedures. Exceptions process.
Automated Enforcement
Email retention policies. File system lifecycle management. Database archival and purging. Cloud storage lifecycle rules.
Secure Disposal
Digital shredding overwrites data. Cryptographic erasure destroys keys. Physical destruction for media. Certificates of destruction for compliance.
Legal Holds
Litigation hold suspends deletion. Preservation notices document scope. Hold management tracks compliance. Release procedures when resolved.
Implementation
Inventory data locations. Classify by retention needs. Configure technical controls. Train employees on obligations.
Regular Review
Annual policy review. Legal requirement updates. Technology capability assessment. Disposal process audits.
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