Email Retention & Compliance
Keep the right records for the right amount of time — and defensibly dispose of the rest — with policy-driven retention, WORM storage, and legal holds.
WORM-backed · SEC 17a-4, FINRA, HIPAA & CJIS-ready · 60+ data sources
What is email retention compliance?
Email retention compliance is the practice of retaining email and communications for the periods required by law, regulation, and business need — then defensibly disposing of them when those periods expire. It depends on clear retention schedules mapped to record types, immutable (WORM) storage so records can't be altered, legal holds that override retention during litigation, and audit trails that prove what was kept and produced.
Key capabilities
Why Grotabyte for email retention compliance
- Map retention to the exact rules you face — SEC 17a-4, FINRA, MiFID II, FOIA, HIPAA, CJIS, GDPR
- Immutable, WORM-backed records with a defensible chain of custody
- Reduce risk, cost, and discovery scope with defensible deletion
- Apply the same policies across 60+ sources, not just email
Frequently asked questions
How long should businesses retain email?
It depends on the record type and applicable regulations — for example, SEC 17a-4 and FINRA records often run several years, and MiFID II generally requires at least five years. A retention policy maps each category to its required period and disposal rule.
What is a retention policy?
A retention policy is a set of rules defining how long each category of record must be kept and what happens when that period ends. It underpins both compliance and defensible deletion.
What is defensible deletion?
Defensible deletion is the documented, policy-driven disposal of records that have met retention and are not under legal hold. Done consistently with audit trails, it reduces risk, cost, and discovery scope.
See compliance in action
Book a personalized demo and see how Grotabyte fits your data sources and compliance requirements.