Data Retention and Export Settings

Overview

FieldPulse provides configurable data retention and export controls to help organizations manage storage costs, comply with regional privacy regulations, and maintain data portability. These settings are managed at the account level by users with Admin or Super Admin permissions.

Accessing Data Retention Settings

Navigate to Settings → Administration → Data Management.
Select the Retention & Export tab.

Automatic Archiving

Configure when completed work orders, invoices, and customer records are automatically archived. Archived data remains searchable but is excluded from active dashboards and standard reports.

Data Type	Default Retention	Configurable Range
Completed Work Orders	2 years	90 days – 7 years
Invoices & Payments	7 years	1 – 10 years
Customer Records	Indefinite	1 year – Indefinite
Audit Logs	1 year	90 days – 3 years
Mobile Sync Logs	90 days	30 days – 1 year

Data Deletion Policies

Soft Delete vs. Hard Delete — When a user or work order is deleted, FieldPulse performs a soft delete by default. The record is hidden from standard views but retained for the configured period. Hard deletion permanently removes data and cannot be undone.

To enable automatic hard deletion of soft-deleted records after a retention period:

Enable Automatic Permanent Deletion in Data Management settings.
Set the Hard Delete Delay (minimum 30 days; recommended 90 days for compliance audit trails).

Data Export and Portability

Self-Service Export

Admins can generate export packages containing:

All work orders and associated data
Customer and contact records
Inventory transactions
User activity logs
Form responses and attachments

To initiate an export:

Go to Settings → Administration → Data Export.
Select Request Data Export.
Choose the date range and data types.
Confirm your email address for notification.

Exports are prepared asynchronously. You will receive email notification when the package is ready for download (typically within 4 hours). Download links expire after 7 days.

Scheduled Exports

Recurring exports can be configured for integration with external data warehouses or backup systems. Supported formats: CSV, JSON, and Parquet.

GDPR and Regional Compliance

FieldPulse includes preset retention profiles for GDPR (EU), CCPA (California), and PIPEDA (Canada). These profiles automatically configure:

Customer data retention limits
Right-to-deletion workflows
Export formatting for portability requests

To apply a compliance profile, select Apply Regional Template and choose your jurisdiction.

Storage Management

Account storage usage is displayed in the Data Management panel. When approaching your plan limit, you may:

Reduce retention periods for non-financial data
Archive photos and attachments to external storage
Contact support to discuss storage expansion

Audit and Verification

All retention policy changes are logged to the Audit Logs. A summary report of data deleted under automatic policies is generated monthly and sent to account admins.