The Power of Letting Go: Why Data Deletion Matters

In today’s data-driven world, information is one of our most valuable assets. Data helps organisations understand their audiences, support customers, manage events, and deliver impactful projects. However, with great data comes great responsibility — and one of the most common risks is holding on to it for too long. It’s tempting to think, “Let’s keep this; it might be useful one day,” but every extra day personal or sensitive data is retained beyond its original purpose increases both risk and accountability.

The Principle of Storage Limitation

Many data privacy frameworks around the world include a core rule known as the principle of storage limitation. Under laws such as the UK and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organisations must ensure that personal data is not kept for longer than necessary for the purposes for which it was originally collected.

In simple terms, this means:
“Only keep personal data for as long as it’s needed for the reason it was collected.”
Once that purpose ends, the data should be deleted, anonymised, or securely archived if required for legal or regulatory reasons.

This principle is echoed globally:

• The UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 mirror the EU’s approach.

• The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) requires organisations to specify and justify data retention periods.

• The Brazilian LGPD, Singapore PDPA, and South Africa’s POPIA all require that personal data be retained only as long as necessary for its lawful purpose.

• China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) mandates that data controllers “retain personal information for the shortest time necessary to achieve the purpose of processing.”

• Canada’s PIPEDA (Principle 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention) similarly directs organisations to keep personal information only as long as needed.

Wherever your business operates, the message is consistent: if the purpose has expired, the data should too.

Why Holding on to Personal Data Creates Risk

1. Security Vulnerability
The longer data is retained, the higher the risk of exposure through cyber incidents, human error, or system misconfiguration. Even archived datasets can become targets for attackers.

2. Regulatory and Legal Exposure
Data regulators increasingly focus on retention practices. If a company cannot demonstrate a valid reason for keeping personal data, it risks breaching privacy laws. Under the EU GDPR, organisations can face fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher. In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can impose penalties up to £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover. Other jurisdictions, including California under the CPRA, also permit significant fines and statutory damages for improper retention.

Example:
In 2025, the Spanish regulator AEPD fined CaixaBank S.A. €200,000 for unlawfully retaining a customer’s data years after their mortgage had ended, citing Article 5(1)(e) of the GDPR (storage limitation) as the basis for the violation.

3. Operational Inefficiency
Retaining outdated data clutters systems, increases storage costs, and complicates information management. It becomes harder to identify what’s current, accurate, and relevant.

4. Reputational Impact
Keeping unnecessary personal data can undermine customer and employee trust, suggesting that the organisation does not handle information responsibly or respect privacy principles.

Practising Smart Data Retention

So, what can companies do in practice?

• Know your data: Understand what you collect, why you collect it, and how long it’s genuinely needed.

• Set clear retention schedules: Link them directly to business purpose and legal obligations.

• Automate deletion and anonymisation: Reduce reliance on manual processes where possible.

• Regularly review datasets: Conduct data hygiene exercises to identify and remove redundant information.

• Document and communicate: Be transparent and accountable about retention and deletion practices.

• Provide staff training: Ensure employees understand the importance of responsible data handling and how to follow internal policies.

A Shared Responsibility

Data protection isn’t just about compliance — it’s about trust, integrity, and good business practice. Everyone within an organisation has a role to play in managing data responsibly.

By applying the principle of storage limitation and deleting data once it’s no longer needed, businesses reduce risk, save resources, and strengthen the confidence of customers, partners, and employees.

Next time you review a dataset or plan a new project, ask yourself:
“Do we still need this data — and if not, why are we keeping it?”

Treat data deletion and minimisation as essential parts of responsible data management — just as important as data collection and analysis.