Set a retention process for documents and derivatives

Define the decision

Inventory the record types and their purpose: customer artwork, accepted specifications, claims evidence, contact preferences, operational logs and temporary previews. Identify the responsible owner and the applicable retention basis for each. A single arbitrary deletion period rarely describes every business record or every derivative correctly.

Build a usable record

Define the event that starts review, the intended retention period and exceptions that require an authorised decision. Include thumbnails, extracted text, cached bundles and local exports. Record which copies the operator controls and which have already been given to others. Keep a clear process for disputes, required evidence and customer requests.

Check the evidence boundary

Review deletion against current obligations and verified backup policy. Do not remove the last working release or evidence needed for an accepted project merely to meet a storage target. Conversely, a backup should not become an unmanaged archive of unrelated personal details. Consequential retention decisions need the organisation’s applicable policy and appropriate authority.

Worked example — illustrative

In a fictional campaign, temporary artwork previews are eligible for removal after handover, but the accepted specification and scoped evidence remain under the documented project retention process. The team removes the controlled previews and records the action. It does not claim that separately downloaded customer copies have been erased.

Put the method into practice

Use an access-review record to map record type, purpose, owner, trigger and controlled copies. Test the process with a small authorised sample before automated deletion. Leaf’s current browser drafts are device-local; hosted retention, verified backups and enforceable deletion workflows depend on the commissioned engine and operating policy.

• Map originals and derivatives.
• Identify purpose and review trigger.
• Check obligations and backup evidence.
• Record controlled deletion scope.