Data Deletion Policy¶

This policy applies to any projects allocated on e-Commons storage services, including for example Cephyr NOBACKUP and S3. It may be summarized by the following two points:

1. PI:s must make sure to remove their project data from the project area within a grace period of 90 days after the project ends.
2. The remaining data will be deleted after either the PI has acknowledged it as ready for deletion, or after the grace period of 90 days has passed.

For NAISS resources, please refer to NAISS data deletion policy.

Procedure¶

The 90-day grace period is divided into three phases:

Phase 1: 30 days of normal use + email warnings¶

When a project ends, the project area remains writable for 30 days.
Meanwhile, automated emails are sent weekly to the project PI and all
members who have data stored in the project directory.

Phase 2: 30 days of data delete-only + email warnings¶

From 30 to 60 days after the end of the project, the data remain on disk.
However, you cannot write new data, only read and delete old data.
Automated email reminders will continue.

Phase 3: 30 days of data hidden¶

From 60 to 90 days after the project ends, the data remains on disk but hidden.
Instead of sending automated email reminders, we will make a reasonable effort
to reach the project PI to obtain an acknowledgement to delete the remaining data
and that the project has saved any valuable data.

If we cannot reach the PI, we reserve the right to delete all data in the project area. This will be done following a grace period of 90 days after the project end.

Acknowledge data ready for deletion¶

The PI should log in to the SUPR portal and acknowledge that the remaining data is ready for deletion. This can be done at any point during the grace period of 90 days after the project ends.
The data will then be deleted, and the automated emails will stop.

Project continuation¶

If the project has ended but there is a proposal applying for continuation. You still
receive the email reminders until the proposal gets approved. You proposal must be
approved before the expiry of the 90-day grace period.

Transfer of ownership¶

The PI is the formal owner of all data in the project area. As such the PI can always request transferring data ownership to him/herself. Please contact e-Commons via the SUPR support page.

Other issues¶

Please open a ticket via the SUPR support form.