Who this is for

Built for personal data, financial records, contracts, backups, logs, and physical records across all systems and locations.

Every section below is included in your download, summaries only shown here, not the policy text.

• —

  Document control

  Owner, version, review cycle, and approval fields ready to customize.

• 1

  Purpose

  Why this policy exists and the outcomes it supports.

• 2

  Scope

  Who and what systems, locations, and activities are in scope.

• 3

  Definitions

  Key terms defined in a table for consistent interpretation.

• 4

  Roles and responsibilities

  Accountability for executives, owners, managers, staff, and IT.

• 5

  Policy requirements

  Numbered, audit-ready controls you can adopt or tailor.

• 6–8

  Exceptions, monitoring, enforcement

  Exception process, review cadence, and consequences of non-compliance.

• 9–10

  Regional compliance and framework mapping

  US, EU, and global obligations plus mapped control themes.

• A–C

  Appendices

  Customization notes, document history, and approval signatures.

Requirement themes addressed, not the verbatim policy language.

• Maintain a retention schedule aligned to legal, tax
• Delete or anonymize personal data when retention periods expire unless an exception…
• Apply legal holds suspending deletion for litigation or investigation matters.
• Securely wipe electronic media and shred physical documents per classification level.
• Include retention requirements in vendor contracts and verify processor deletion on…
• Automate deletion workflows where technically feasible to reduce human error.
• Document retention decisions and exceptions with approval from legal or DPO.
• Review retention schedule annually for regulatory changes.
• Validate backup expiration aligns with primary data retention policies.
• Audit sample deletions quarterly to confirm policy adherence.