VistaConnect Data Retention Schedule

Version: 2.0 Effective date: 2026-04-22 Owner: Data HQ Limited Review cycle: Annually, or on material platform change

This schedule sets out how long Data HQ retains different categories of data processed through the VistaConnect platform. It is referenced by, and forms part of, the VistaConnect Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and Privacy Notice.

Retention table

#	Category	What it contains	Retention	Basis	How it's enforced
1	Data Audit — uploaded files	The rows parsed from CSVs you upload to run a matching/enrichment job (company names, addresses, postcodes, contact details if provided)	30 days from job completion	Business necessity — auditors typically re-download or iterate within 30 days	Automated — `cleanup_expired_jobs` daily task deletes jobs older than 30 days; cascades to results and purchased contacts
2	Data Audit — job results	The matched company data returned against your upload	30 days (same as source job)	Linked to #1	Cascade delete from the job record
3	Find Look-alikes / ICP — uploaded files	The raw CSVs uploaded to profile your customer base	Not persisted. Rows are parsed in-memory, matched, used to derive filters, and discarded at end of request. Only the matched site URNs (not your uploaded names/postcodes) are stored on the resulting saved list.	Data minimisation (GDPR Article 5(1)(c))	Code behaviour — upload endpoint does not write raw rows to any table or blob
4	List Builder — saved drafts	Filter selections, chosen fields, list name (no personal data of third parties)	Until you delete the list, or until account closure, whichever is sooner	User-controlled	Manual via UI; cascade delete on account closure
5	List Builder — purchased lists	The site URNs (and contact URNs where contacts are included) representing companies you purchased access to	24 months from the purchase date	Typical B2B list-usage cycle — purchasers download, enrich and outreach over 6–18 months, with occasional reference over the following 6 months. After 24 months the data is materially stale and the list has limited continuing commercial value. Longer retention is not justified against data-subject interests.	Automated — daily scheduler task deletes purchased lists with `purchase_date` older than 24 months; cascades to `list_builder_results` and `list_builder_contact_results`
6	Shared Audit links	A read-only share token that lets a recipient view an audit report without an account	Token valid for lifetime of the parent audit job (30 days). When the job is deleted, the token stops working.	Linked to #1	Cascade on job deletion
7	Your account — identifying details	Email, name, hashed password, client/company name, signup source, verification status	Until you request deletion	Contract performance	User self-serve deletion available in Settings → Delete account. Scheduled hard-delete after 7-day grace period
8	Credit balance + transactions	Records of credit purchases, consumption and monthly allocation	Up to 7 years from the end of the accounting period to which the record relates	UK tax and accounting law (HMRC)	Retained via legal obligation; not deleted when an account is closed. Automated archival/purge after statutory period
9	Payment records (Stripe)	Stripe payment intent IDs, invoice IDs, amounts, VAT, payment status	Up to 7 years	UK tax and accounting law (HMRC)	As #8
10	Usage logs	A record of which API / portal features your account used, when, and how many credits were consumed	24 months rolling, or until account closure if sooner	Operational and fraud monitoring, billing audit and credit-dispute resolution (legitimate interest)	Automated rolling purge at 24 months; remainder deleted as part of account closure. Aggregated / anonymised statistics may be retained per row 14
11	Container / application logs	Operational logs (request traces, error messages, performance metrics). These do not contain customer-uploaded data but may contain email addresses of logged-in users and request IDs	30 days standard; 90 days for audit-flagged events	Operational security	Azure Log Analytics retention policy
12	Database backups	Point-in-time backups of the full production database	7-day rolling window	Business continuity	Azure Flexible Server automated backups. See Backups and the right to erasure below.
13	Blog Bot content (if used)	Draft articles, conversations, brand voice configuration you create within the Blog Bot feature	Until you delete, or until account closure	User-controlled	Cascade on account closure
14	Anonymised / aggregated data	Statistics about how VistaConnect is used in aggregate (e.g. number of jobs run per month, average list size), with no link to any individual client or user	Indefinite	No personal data involved once irreversibly aggregated (GDPR Recital 26)	Retained in aggregate form only

What "deletion" means in practice

When data is deleted under this schedule:

Live database — rows are permanently removed via SQL DELETE, usually cascaded from a parent record.
Backups — deleted data remains in backups for up to 7 days while the backup window rolls forward. We cannot excise records from a backup snapshot without restoring, editing and re-snapshotting, which would compromise the integrity of the backup.
Container logs — logs roll off the standard Azure retention window (30 days) independently of database deletion.

Backups and the right to erasure

If you exercise your right to erasure under UK GDPR, your data is removed from our live systems within 24 hours. Your data may persist in automated system backups for up to 7 additional days while the backup window rolls forward. During that period the data is not accessible for operational use and will be automatically aged out. If you have specific concerns requiring confirmation of backup ageing, email legal@datahq.co.uk and we will confirm the date by which residual backup copies will have been deleted.

Account closure

On request, or when an account is closed, we will delete:

your user record (users);
your client / organisation record (api_clients);
your account-to-user link (user_client_access);
your audit jobs and results (bulk_enrich_jobs, bulk_enrich_results, bulk_enrich_contacts);
your saved and purchased lists (list_builder_lists, list_builder_results, list_builder_contact_results);
your Blog Bot content (all blog_bot_* tables);
your usage logs (api_usage_log);
your credit ledger (credit_transactions), except where retention is required for tax purposes under items 8 and 9 above.

We retain, for the statutory period, records required by UK tax and accounting law (invoices, payment history, VAT returns). These records are retained under legal obligation and are not subject to earlier deletion.

Requesting earlier deletion

You can request that Data HQ deletes your Confidential Information before the retention period expires, by emailing legal@datahq.co.uk. We will comply within 24 hours of receipt of the request, subject to the statutory exceptions above.

Version history

Version	Date	Notes
1.0	[draft]	Initial schedule
2.0	2026-04-22	Added basis column; clarified backup persistence on right-to-erasure; aligned HMRC wording with "up to 7 years"