Data retention and deletion are important aspects of data management in cloud applications. They affect the performance, cost, security, and compliance of your data architecture. In this article, we will discuss some of the best practices for data retention and deletion in cloud applications, such as:
You should have a clear understanding of how long you need to keep your data, what are the legal and regulatory requirements, and what are the business and technical implications of deleting or archiving data. You should document your data lifecycle policies and procedures, and communicate them to your stakeholders and users. You should also review and update your policies regularly to reflect any changes in your data environment or business needs.
Identifying and documenting internal and external requirements is crucial. This ensures that your data management aligns with organisational goals and legal mandates. Understanding READ and Reporting Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is equally vital. It sets clear expectations for data access speeds and reporting capabilities, which can impact both operational efficiency and compliance. You create a comprehensive strategy by combining these considerations with robust encryption, automated backups, and a clear data deletion policy. This approach safeguards data, facilitates smooth operations, and ensures compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Data retention policy creates an opportunity to remove duplicated and outdated data, making it easier to find relevant information.Getting rid of redundant and out-of-date material speeds up searches(better performance), less latency and improves user experience.
Cloud providers offer different types of storage services, such as object storage, block storage, file storage, and database storage. Each service has its own features, pricing, and performance characteristics. You should choose the storage service that best suits your data retention and deletion needs, based on factors such as data volume, frequency of access, durability, availability, scalability, and security. For example, if you need to store large amounts of data for a long time, but rarely access it, you might use object storage with low-cost tiers. If you need to store data for a short time, but access it frequently, you might use block storage with high-performance tiers.
You should implement your data retention and deletion policies using the tools and mechanisms provided by your cloud provider or third-party solutions. For example, you can use lifecycle management features to automatically move, delete, or archive data based on predefined rules and schedules. You can also use encryption, backup, and versioning features to protect your data from accidental or malicious deletion. You should monitor and audit your data retention and deletion activities, and ensure that they comply with your policies and standards.
Compliance and regulatory requirements should also be included as part of the data retention policies being considered to reduce risks around data exposure, litigation, and so forth.
You should optimize your data retention and deletion costs by using the most efficient and effective methods and strategies. For example, you can use compression, deduplication, and partitioning techniques to reduce the size and number of data objects. You can also use tiering, caching, and archiving strategies to reduce the storage and access costs of data objects. You should also consider the trade-offs between data retention and deletion costs, such as the potential value, risk, and liability of data.
You should ensure that your data retention and deletion processes are secure and compliant with your data security and privacy requirements. For example, you can use encryption, access control, and logging features to protect your data from unauthorized access or disclosure. You can also use shredding, wiping, and overwriting techniques to ensure that your data is completely erased and unrecoverable. You should also follow the best practices and guidelines of your cloud provider and industry standards for data retention and deletion security.
One of the first to consider and adhere to would be regulations applicable to your industry and geographic regions, such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, or any other industry-specific standards. I have kept my comments out of the individual topics as it need to be considered for most of them e.g. data retention policy can be different in different regions. Regulations can have a bearing on where can the data be stored or not stored. Regulations may define if data to be deleted or anonymised.