Data retention: the warehouse keeps everything

The data retention policy says support tickets are deleted after three years. The support team sets up the help desk to do it, and the oldest tickets disappear on schedule.

The warehouse has its own copy of every ticket since 2016, synced nightly for reporting. Nothing in the policy reached it.

Retention and deletion are the part of compliance automation that removes data. A policy only holds if every copy follows it.

What is data retention?

Data retention is how long each type of record is kept before it’s deleted, as set out in a retention policy. Enforcing it means finding records past their period, checking them for legal holds, and deleting them in the source system and every copy, with a log of what was removed.

Why retention isn’t enforced

1. Deletion runs in the source only. The warehouse and every synced tool keep their copies.
2. Holds are tracked separately. Legal holds sit in a spreadsheet, so deletion pauses everywhere or nowhere.
3. Nobody maps record types to systems. The policy names categories, and nobody says which systems hold each one.
4. Deletion is a one-off project. A cleanup happens before an audit and isn’t repeated.
5. There’s no record of what went. Without a log, nobody can show the policy was followed.

What it costs

Every record kept past its date is data you have to protect, search during requests and disclose if it’s breached. Old copies in the warehouse turn up in reports and exports long after the source deleted them. A policy that isn’t enforced is also an audit finding of its own.

What to fix first

1. Map each record type to every system that holds it. Include the warehouse and every sync.
2. Check holds before deleting. Keep legal holds in one place that the deletion run reads.
3. Delete on a schedule. Run it weekly or monthly, not once before the audit.
4. Delete in every copy. Cover the source, the warehouse and each synced tool in the same run.
5. Log what was deleted. Store counts by record type and system as evidence, with a person approving large deletions first.

The guide to building data retention enforcement has the prompts for each step.

Where it fits

Retention and the DSAR process share the same map of where personal data lives. Warehouse copies, like the one in Salesforce to Snowflake, need the same rules as their source. Deletion logs are evidence for audit evidence collection.

For every part of compliance automation, from policy to audit evidence, see continuous compliance.