What's the data retention policy for Confluence Cloud (Premium)
Asked by Stephanie Hurt:

What's the data retention policy for Confluence Cloud (Premium)


Answers:
author: Darin - Opus Guard
body: [@Stephanie Hurt](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4407254) by default, Confluence Premium does not have a retention period set. Everything you create lives on as long as your subscription is active (for better or worse). I wrote out a quick guide on why you should consider deploying a retention policy with your team (risk/storage/liability/etc.): [Why Develop a Data Retention Policy.](https://docs.opusguard.com/kb/why-develop-a-data-retention-policy/)

As mentioned, there are several Atlassian Marketplace Apps available to solve your needs as well as automation within Premium. [Content Retention Manager for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1233769/content-retention-manager-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview) is worth checking out. It's built focused on the ISO/SOC2 compliance requirements around retention and removal. It's incredibly simple to use and has automation to help keep storage and clutter down, and also has an audit function for reporting needs. If you just need Archiving, that's available out of the box, our solution focuses

For example, you can set a global retention period, setup warning, and even enable automation as needed fairly easy. Purging is critical to consider if you need in terms of risk management as content Confluence Archive and Deleted are still considered "discoverable" states as users can recover that content even after your period has ended. ![automation.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/318169i4FACC2B2E8470A00/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "automation.png")

For the information governance side of ISO/SOC2, we added the ability to mark content as indefinite or create longer or shorter retention periods. ![extension.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/318170i9CF98C5E77B09948/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "extension.png") on the deletion and purging requirements of ISO/SOC2.


author: Aron Gombas _Midori_
body: On Cloud, you can use the [Better Content Archiving](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/123/better-content-archiving-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview) app to implement custom data retention for pages and blog posts (not for attachments yet).

Steps:

1. Create an [automation scheme](https://www.midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/configure/automation-schemes#introduction).
2. Add an automation with:
   1. *Enabled:*turn this on.
   2. *Schedule:* when you want the rule be executed. It is a good idea to run this out of your regular working hours, typically during the night or over the weekend.
   3. *CQL:* the query which collects the pages and blog posts to delete. As you can use the CQL query language, it allows defining very smart rules.
   4. *Action:* "Delete" (or "Archive" eventually).
3. Apply the scheme to the spaces where you want to activate the automation.

This automation will wake up according to the schedule and delete the pages matching the CQL that time.

For example, the second automation in this scheme will delete the pages that are in the "To delete" status:

![configure-automation-scheme-cloud.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/310616iFAE6898326DF2D25/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "configure-automation-scheme-cloud.png")

You can combine this with [custom notifications](https://www.midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/configure/notification-schemes), for example, sending out a [custom email](https://www.midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/configure/notification-emails) about the pages to delete to space admins, owners, selected users or groups.

*(Discl. it is a paid and supported app developed by our team. Free for 10 users!)*


author: Laurie Sciutti
body: Hi [@Stephanie Hurt](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4407254) \~ are you asking about retention rules for spaces or data retention when cancelling a subscription (or something else)?

comments: author: Stephanie Hurt
body: Hi [@Laurie](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/108533), I'm referring to retention rules for spaces?


author: Laurie Sciutti
body: Hi [@Stephanie Hurt](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4407254) \~ unfortunately, this is not yet available for Confluence Cloud. ref: <https://support.atlassian.com/migration/docs/differences-administering-confluence-data-center-and-cloud/>


Tags: cloud

confluence-cloud