Data Retention, Deletion, and Archiving in the Cloud


  • data retention in cloud can be difficult
    • difficult to ensure the cloud provider is not retaining organization’s data beyond the retention period
    • cloud storage is designed to replicate data automatically
    • deleting data visible to the organization may not delete it everywhere in the infrastructure
  • archiving data in cloud can introduce additional complexity
    • due to the variety of services that can be used as part of archiving process
  • deletion can create concerns in the cloud
    • need to understand how cloud provider removes data that is deleted and what activities like deprovisioning systems and services mean for deletion process
    • many cloud providers have technology in place that ensures remnant data will not be accessible
      • but remnant data has been recovered in some cases