Deleted data and data retention
What does ChurchSuite delete?
Each day, ChurchSuite makes an automated backup of your account data. Encrypted backups are maintained for 30 days, after which time the oldest backup is overwritten.
As part of each day's backup routine, the following automated housekeeping tasks are performed on your account data...
- All Change logs over three years old are removed
- Children visitors who have not checked in and who now exceed the visitor retention settings defined in your Children module settings are removed from the Visitors section (a text record of their name is preserved against historic group attendance)
- Email errors more than 6 months old are removed
- All Logins logs over three years old are removed
- All deletion logs over three years old are removed. The Deleted reports referred to in this article only show deletions within the last three years
- All Communication logs over three years old are removed
- Files and images uploaded using the third-party FileStack service, such as files added for email attachments, or images uploaded to HTML-enabled Description fields, are retained for three years and then deleted
What can a module user delete?
Beyond these automated housekeeping tasks that remove data from your account, your Users, subject to their permissions, may also delete certain data from within a module. Each module's Reports section includes a Deleted section to help you identify what has been deleted, when and by whom.
However, the following data deletion restrictions apply to Users:
- Gift Aid claims with a Completed or Submitted status cannot be deleted within 6 years of the claim completion/submission date. HMRC requires claims and donation data to be retained for 6 years after the end of the tax year to which the claim relates. For example, a claim covering donations for the period 6th April 2014 to 5th April 2015 that was submitted on 21st April 2015 will be deletable 6 years from 5th April 2016, the end of the tax year of the claim submission date, i.e. on 5th April 2022.
- Events with Stripe-paid sign-ups, and individual Stripe-paid sign-ups, cannot be deleted within 1 year of the sign-up date. After this 1-year lock, Stripe-paid sign-ups can be individually deleted, and the event can be deleted when there are no 12-month-locked sign-ups for the event.