Top 4 tips for creating a defensible deletion strategy

With more and more information being collected online, some businesses find themselves drowning in paper and digital files. Defensible deletion is a growing trend which can help a brand defend itself if litigation should occur. The key is to have a strategy in place; here are eDJ Groups top tips:

by Kristina Knight

The eDJ Group is an online hub set up to help businesses perform better online; the company offers consulting and analyst services for the digital space. Researchers from the company recently polled brands to determine if they were prepared to defend themselves if questions ever arose about the data they had collected - and then deleted. Their findings were that most company knew of or planned to implement defensible deletion strategies, but that many brands remain unprepared. The following are their top four tips for creating a defensible deletion strategy.

Other interesting findings include:

• 76% of respondents report their retention polices include physical and digital information
• 16% don't know if policies include physical and digital data
• 64% report they have a system in place to enforce retention schedules

First,have a documented legal hold process for critical systems and ensure that the proper personnel are in charge of deletion. Implement quality control measures to ensure any non-compliant areas are brought up to speed and utilize technology that automates the hold process.

Second, use multiple measures to begin projects. Employ mechanisms that actively update fields.

Third, prioritize information that is to be deleted and make that priority system consistent. Use clear instruction documents explaining hold processes and exceptions to the rules.

Fourth, offer 'centralized ownership' of defensible deletion projects.

Tags: data collection, data deletion strategy, defensible deletion, eDJ Group, offline data collection, online data