Data Retention Policy

To ensure optimal performance, security, and data privacy, we implement automated retention policies for various types of data stored in our system. This helps maintain database efficiency and ensures we don’t store sensitive operational data longer than necessary.

Retention Periods

We automatically prune data that exceeds these retention thresholds:

Data Type	Retention Period	Description
Audit Logs	90 Days	History of account actions, logins, and administrative changes.
Video Snapshots	90 Days	Temporary video frames used for processing and thumbnail generation.
Link Analytics	90 Days	Detailed click tracking logs for shortened links.
Failed Uploads	30 Days	Metadata and error details for uploads that failed to process.
Stale Uploads	24 Hours	Upload jobs stuck in “pending” or “processing” state without completion.

Why We Clean Up Data

1. Performance & Reliability

Maintaining a lean database is critical for API response times. By regularly archiving or deleting old logs and temporary data (like snapshots), we ensure that queries remain fast and the system scales efficiently even with high user activity.

2. Privacy & Security

We follow the principle of data minimization. Logs containing IP addresses, user actions, or device information are deleted after 90 days to reduce the risk surface in case of any security event.

3. Operational Hygiene

Temporary artifacts like failed upload attempts or “stale” jobs (uploads that were interrupted and never finished) clog up the system. Removing them after a short period (24 hours to 30 days) keeps the dashboard clean and precise.

Automated Cleanup Process

The cleanup process runs daily as a background cron job. It batches deletions to prevent database locking and ensures no active services are interrupted during maintenance.