The AVG states as one of its principles that you may not keep personal data longer than necessary for the purpose for which you are using it. For example, letters of application and correspondence surrounding the application (certificates and certificate of good conduct) must be completely deleted from all systems 4 weeks after the application process is completed. A health certificate for life insurance should only be retained for 24 hours. How does your organization handle retention periods?
Retention period strategy and retention settings
You can set up a retention strategy using 'retention tags'. The strategy is based on assigning metadata (such as a retention period) to emails and documents by linking the metadata to the document type. Retention tags are used to apply retention settings to folders and individual items such as email messages and documents. These settings specify how long a message may be kept in a mailbox or on a SharePoint site and what action should be taken when the message reaches the specified retention age. When a message reaches the retention age, it is moved to the user's in-place archive or deleted.
Document type tag (Content type)
By specifying the document type, metadata, such as a retention tag, is automatically added to emails and documents. The document types are recorded in the metadata policy and included in SharePoint. Examples of document types are:
- Application letter or email
- Life insurance application
- Health certificate
- Letter of complaint or email
- Health insurance claims
Actually, any document type that contains personal data.
Based on the document type, document tags are automatically added to emails and documents. Messages and documents to which a document tag is applied are always processed based on the settings of the document tag.
Retention actions
When a retention tag is created or configured, one of the following retention actions can be selected, which must be performed when an item reaches the retention age:
- Recoverable delete
- Permanently delete
- Mark as retention limit in the past
When planning to create retention policies, consider whether they include both archiving and disposal tags.
Adding retention periods via document type tags with Docubird
Docubird simplifies the process of adding document type (content type) tags to emails and documents. The document types specified in SharePoint are easily presented via Docubird and selected by the user. Docubird then automatically adds all metadata associated with this document type, such as the retention period, to the email or document.