Most companies maintain vast amounts of unneeded data and can decrease legal and compliance risk and minimize financial burden if they retain less ROT (redundant, obsolete and trivial data). Unfortunately, eliminating ROT, often referred to as “defensible deletion,” can seem challenging. Here, we provide a framework for making defensible deletion an attainable goal. The key lies in planning.
What Is Defensible Deletion?
Prospectively, defensible deletion involves the ongoing and routine elimination of unneeded data, in real time or pursuant to a prescribed schedule to avoid accumulation of ROT. Retroactively, defensible deletion involves identification and deletion of previously accumulated ROT. In either case, the “defensible” part of the proposition involves minimizing legal risk, particularly associated with spoliation of evidence.
