Question 1

How do I create a retention policy?

Accepted Answer

Retention policies are created as Salesforce records in a custom object (Retention_Policy__c). Each policy specifies: the target Salesforce object, retention period (in months or years), jurisdiction (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc.), and deletion method (hard delete, anonymize, or archive). Policies are metadata-driven: no Apex code required. Create, edit, and deactivate policies through standard Salesforce screens.

Question 2

Can I have different retention periods for the same object in different countries?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Create separate policies for each jurisdiction on the same object. Example: Contacts in EU jurisdictions → 3 years (GDPR Article 5), Contacts in US → 7 years (SOX), Contacts in Healthcare → 6 years (HIPAA). Data Retention Manager evaluates each record against applicable policies based on configurable jurisdiction fields (e.g., BillingCountry, Region__c).

Question 3

What triggers a record's retention clock?

Accepted Answer

The retention clock is configurable per policy. Common triggers: record creation date (CreatedDate), last activity date (LastActivityDate), contract end date (Contract_End_Date__c), or a custom date field. For customer records, LastActivityDate is often appropriate: retention runs from the last meaningful interaction, not from account creation.

Question 4

Can I set different retention periods for different record types on the same object?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Policies can filter by RecordTypeId, Owner, or any Boolean/picklist field. Create a 'Customer Contact' policy (7 years) and a 'Marketing Lead' policy (2 years) both targeting the Contact object: each applies to its filtered record set. Records matching multiple policies take the longer retention period for safety.

Question 5

What deletion methods does Data Retention Manager support?

Accepted Answer

Three methods: (1) Hard delete: permanently removes the record and all related history. (2) Anonymize: replaces personal data fields with placeholder values while preserving the record for reporting. (3) Archive: moves data to a custom archive object before deletion, creating a compliance record of what was held. Configure per policy based on your audit requirements.

Question 6

How often does Data Retention Manager run deletion cycles?

Accepted Answer

Deletion cycles run on a configurable schedule: daily, weekly, or monthly. Most organizations run daily cycles with a small batch size to spread load, or weekly full runs during off-peak windows. The schedule is configured in the Data Retention Manager settings screen: no Apex scheduling required.

Question 7

Can I pause retention enforcement for specific records?

Accepted Answer

Yes: litigation holds. Flag individual records or groups of records as 'under litigation hold' using a dedicated checkbox field. Data Retention Manager skips held records during deletion cycles regardless of their retention period expiry. Holds are tracked with a hold date, holder, and reason: creating an audit trail for legal proceedings.

Question 8

What happens to child records when a parent is deleted?

Accepted Answer

Data Retention Manager evaluates cascade deletion based on your configured deletion order. Child records with master-detail relationships to the parent are deleted automatically by Salesforce. Lookup relationship children require explicit policy configuration: either include them in the deletion sequence or configure them as independent retention objects.

Question 9

How does Data Retention Manager enforce GDPR Article 5 data minimization?

Accepted Answer

GDPR Article 5(e) requires personal data is 'kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary.' Data Retention Manager operationalizes this: configure purpose-based retention periods (e.g., 'marketing communications: 2 years from last consent'), and the system automatically deletes records when the purpose has expired. The deletion log serves as GDPR documentation.

Question 10

What retention period should we use for FINRA compliance?

Accepted Answer

FINRA Rule 4511 requires broker-dealer records retained for 6 years minimum. Configure a Data Retention Manager policy: object = relevant financial records objects, retention period = 72 months (6 years), trigger = record creation date, jurisdiction = FINRA. Apply a litigation hold exception for records under active examination.

Question 11

How do we handle HIPAA's 6-year retention requirement in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

HIPAA §164.530(j) requires policies and procedures retained for 6 years. For Health Cloud deployments, configure retention policies by patient record type and service date. Data Retention Manager supports Health Cloud objects natively: EpisodeOfCare, HealthCondition, and related PHI objects. Deletion logs provide OCR audit documentation.

Question 12

Can Data Retention Manager help with SOX 7-year retention?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Configure retention policies for financial records objects (Opportunities, Contracts, revenue-related custom objects) with a 7-year (84-month) retention period tied to the transaction close date. SOX applies to publicly traded companies: retention enforcement documentation helps satisfy SOX Section 802 record-keeping obligations.

Question 13

How does Switzerland's FADP retention requirement apply to Salesforce data?

Accepted Answer

Switzerland's revised Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, in force September 2023) follows GDPR principles including data minimization. Configure separate FADP policies alongside EU GDPR policies. Use a jurisdiction field (e.g., BillingCountry = 'CH') to apply Swiss-specific retention periods. For cross-border groups, Data Retention Manager handles multi-jurisdiction policy evaluation on each record.

Question 14

Does Data Retention Manager handle retention for archived records?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The 'Archive' deletion method creates a copy of the record in a custom archive object before deletion. The archive record stores: original record ID, deletion date, policy that triggered deletion, and configured data fields. This archive is itself subject to a separate retention policy: configure how long archive records are kept before final deletion.

Question 15

How do we document retention compliance for regulators?

Accepted Answer

Data Retention Manager creates a deletion log record in Salesforce for every deletion action: which policy triggered it, which record was deleted, when, and which fields were included. Export these logs as Salesforce reports for GDPR DPA requests, ICO audits, HIPAA OCR investigations, or FINRA examinations. No manual reconstruction: the log is automatically maintained.

Question 16

Can we exclude specific fields from deletion while deleting others?

Accepted Answer

Yes: partial anonymization. Rather than deleting the entire record, configure a policy to null-out or replace specific fields while preserving others. Example: anonymize name, email, and phone on a Contact while preserving account relationship and transaction history for analytics. This satisfies GDPR's right to erasure for personal data while maintaining business records.

Question 17

What is the maximum number of retention policies we can configure?

Accepted Answer

There is no hard limit on the number of policies. Each policy is a Salesforce record: you can create as many as needed. A global enterprise with 35+ jurisdictions and multiple object types might have 100+ active policies. Performance is not affected by policy count: the evaluation engine processes policies in batches.

Question 18

How do I test a retention policy before running it in production?

Accepted Answer

Data Retention Manager includes a dry-run mode. Run a policy in dry-run to see which records would be deleted: without actually deleting anything. The dry-run report shows record count, sample record IDs, and the policy rule that triggered each selection. Review the dry-run output before enabling live deletion. Recommended for all new policies.

Question 19

What happens if a deletion cycle fails mid-run?

Accepted Answer

Deletion runs are batch-based. If a batch fails, completed batches are preserved: only the failed batch needs to retry. Data Retention Manager logs the failure with the specific record and error. Common causes: record locked by another process, active validation rule preventing deletion, or governor limit breach from a large single-object run. Review logs, resolve the issue, and re-run.

Question 20

Can we restore deleted records?

Accepted Answer

Records deleted by Data Retention Manager go to Salesforce's Recycle Bin (if standard delete is used) and can be restored within 15 days. Hard-deleted records bypass the Recycle Bin and are not recoverable. For regulatory compliance, configure 'Anonymize' or 'Archive' methods instead of hard delete if there is any chance of needing to recover data.

Question 21

How does Data Retention Manager interact with Salesforce data archiving tools?

Accepted Answer

Data Retention Manager is complementary to archiving tools. You can configure a two-stage process: (1) Archive policy moves aging records to an archiving solution (Big Objects, external archive) after Year 1, (2) Deletion policy permanently removes them after the full retention period. This reduces active storage costs while maintaining compliance.

Question 22

How do we configure retention policies for custom objects with complex relationships?

Accepted Answer

Map your object relationships in the Data Retention Manager dependency configuration. Specify parent-child relationships and deletion order (children before parents for master-detail, or independent for lookups). For complex schemas, Cloud Compliance's Customer Success team can review your org schema and recommend the optimal policy structure.

Question 23

Can Data Retention Manager run on a specific subset of records for testing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Use filter conditions on your policy to limit scope: e.g., only process records where CreatedDate < 2020-01-01 and Owner = 'Test_User'. This lets you validate deletion behavior on a controlled subset before enabling the full policy. Remove the filter conditions to apply the policy to all qualifying records.

Question 24

How do we handle retention for records that have active opportunities or contracts?

Accepted Answer

Configure exception logic in your retention policy: skip deletion if the contact has an open Opportunity (StageName != 'Closed Lost' and StageName != 'Closed Won') or active Contract (Status = 'Active'). Data Retention Manager evaluates these conditions before each deletion: records with active business relationships are automatically preserved.

Question 25

What storage reduction should we expect from Data Retention Manager?

Accepted Answer

Typical enterprise Salesforce orgs see 30-50% storage reduction within the first 12 months of automated retention enforcement. Dun & Bradstreet research shows 70% of CRM data is obsolete: most of this is never manually cleaned. Specific savings depend on org age, data accumulation rate, and configured retention periods. Run a dry-run report on your oldest records to estimate.

Data Retention Manager: Every Question Answered

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