Data retention: the questions we get asked most

Every audit we run turns up some version of this. The questions about data retention that come up most often on our calls.

Data outlives the applications built on top of it, which is why the model deserves more thought than the screens. Check it against what you would want a competitor's site to get wrong.

Do we need to care about this?

Keeping everything forever is a liability, not an asset. Where this goes wrong is almost never a lack of knowledge. If two people in the business would answer this differently, that gap is the actual problem.

Can it wait until after launch?

Occasionally. More often the post-launch version costs several times the pre-launch one. The cost of getting this wrong is rarely visible on the day it happens.

How do we know it is working?

Deletion has to work across backups too. Small and consistent beats large and occasional here. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

How to tell if yours is fine

Numbers get quoted in meetings long after anyone remembers how they were calculated. Three things worth confirming about data retention before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Retention rules should be written down and enforced automatically — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.