Data retention and deletion scheduling

Purpose

1. Automate the process of managing, archiving, and deleting customer, transactional, and communication data per compliance mandates and business policy.

2. Ensure automated retention timelines for emails, records, and logs are enforced for legal defensibility and operational efficiency.

3. Achieve automated deletion of expired or redundant data to enhance data security, reduce storage costs, and align with privacy regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, etc).

4. Automator reduces manual labor, risk of human error, and ensures regular audits are automatedly documented.

Trigger Conditions

1. Receipt of new customer or shipping data into databases or mailing platforms.

2. Scheduled date/time-based automation for periodic audits and deletion runs.

3. Event-based triggers, e.g., upon delivery confirmation, order cancellation, or service expiration.

4. Compliance alert or legal request to automate accelerated data removal.

Platform Variants

1. Microsoft Exchange Online

• Function: Retention tags & policies
  
• Configuration: Set retention policy to archive mail older than X days, automate purge after Y days.
  

2. Google Workspace (Gmail & Drive)

• Function: Vault retention rules
  
• Configuration: Automate custom retention schedules on email/groups, automate deletion after period lapses.
  

3. Amazon SES

• Function: API for message retention
  
• Configuration: Automate storing copies for X days, automate deletion with Lambda-based scheduler.
  

4. Twilio SendGrid

• Function: Event Webhooks & Suppression API
  
• Configuration: Trigger automated removal from suppression list after defined duration, automate archiving message logs.
  

5. Mailgun

• Function: Message retention settings
  
• Configuration: API to automate retention length per domain, automate delete events via scheduled job.
  

6. Mandrill (Mailchimp Transactional)

• Function: Message activity retention
  
• Configuration: Webhook setup to automate archiving/deleting logs after 30 days.
  

7. Postmark

• Function: Retention API
  
• Configuration: Automate deletion of delivery and event logs via scheduled API calls.
  

8. Zoho Mail

• Function: Retention Policy settings
  
• Configuration: Automate archival and hard deletion after pre-set periods on mailboxes.
  

9. Proofpoint Essentials

• Function: Email retention policy
  
• Configuration: Automate rules for data lifecycle and automate e-discovery deletion.
  

10. Mimecast

• Function: Data retention management
  
• Configuration: Automate policy-driven archiving and expunging by retention period.
  

11. Barracuda Email Security

• Function: Message retention policy
  
• Configuration: Automate rules for automatic deletion post-retention.
  

12. GFI Archiver

• Function: Retention policies
  
• Configuration: Automate archival and purge schedule via policy-based settings.
  

13. Smarsh

• Function: Automated retention
  
• Configuration: Set up programmable retention durations, automate delete after expiration.
  

14. Iron Mountain Email Management

• Function: Retention scheduling
  
• Configuration: Automate archive and delete workflows based on compliance tagging.
  

15. Vaultastic

• Function: Retention & eDiscovery
  
• Configuration: Automate retention duration for mailboxes, automate delete per policy.
  

16. Exclaimer

• Function: Data storage policies
  
• Configuration: Automate deletion of logs and signature data after set period.
  

17. AWS S3 (email backups/logs)

• Function: Lifecycle configuration
  
• Configuration: Automate transition to archive, automate delete non-current versions after N days.
  

18. Azure Blob Storage

• Function: Automated lifecycle management
  
• Configuration: Automate retention lock, delete expired blobs on schedule.
  

19. Dropbox Business

• Function: Retention API
  
• Configuration: Automate policy to archive or delete shared files/email exports after set time.
  

20. Google Cloud Storage

• Function: Object lifecycle rules
  
• Configuration: Automate retention expiration and object deletion for archived mail/resources.
  

Benefits

1. Automation of retention and deletion increases regulatory compliance and auditable consistency.

2. Automates reduction of storage bloat, optimizing costs and performance.

3. Improves data security by automatedly limiting unnecessary retention of sensitive info.

4. Automator reduces staff workload, enforces policy uniformly, and enables scalable, repeatable workflow automation.