Compliance & Regulatory Tools
Data Retention Policy Calculator
Select data type and jurisdiction to get required minimum retention period, deletion requirements, and legal hold considerations.
No data is transmitted — everything runs locallyTool
About this tool
Data Retention Policy Calculator
The Data Retention Policy Calculator provides required retention periods by data type and jurisdiction with deletion verification requirements and legal hold guidance.
• Look up IRS record retention requirements before setting a financial data policy
• Find GDPR retention guidance before building a data deletion workflow
• Reference HIPAA record retention before archiving patient data
• Get security log retention requirements for a SOC 2 audit preparation
Affiliate disclosure
Credential and secrets management for teams. 1Password provides enterprise password management and secrets infrastructure for development teams.
View retained data with 1Password
External site · Independent provider · We may receive a commission · Not a recommendation
FAQ
What does this tool tell you?
The Data Retention Policy Calculator provides required retention periods by data type and jurisdiction with deletion verification requirements and legal hold guidance.
What affects the result most?
Retention minimums by type: financial records 7yr (IRS), employment records 7yr, HIPAA 6yr, GDPR — minimum necessary. Legal hold: overrides retention policy — data under legal hold cannot be deleted. Deletion verification: must demonstrate deletion occurred — audit trail of deletion.
How should I use the result?
The calculation is deterministic — the same inputs always produce the same output — so the most useful workflow is to vary one input at a time and see which factor moves the result most. That tells you where to focus your attention before committing to a decision.