Trust Centre
Data Retention Policy
Nothing is kept longer than there is a reason to keep it. This page explains what determines how long information stays with us.
Last reviewed: [Date of last review]
What determines a retention period
- Contractual obligations — the duration of an active research project and any agreed follow-up.
- Legal obligations — periods imposed by applicable law.
- Accounting requirements — statutory retention of invoices and financial records.
- Client requests — earlier deletion where no legal or contractual reason to keep the data remains.
- Operational necessity — the ability to answer questions about completed research and to avoid repeating work.
Categories and periods
- Enquiries that do not become projects: [Retention period to be confirmed]
- Client correspondence: [Retention period to be confirmed]
- Family documents supplied by the client: [Retention period to be confirmed]
- Research files, reports and delivered dossiers: [Retention period to be confirmed]
- Invoices and accounting records: [statutory period in [Country of establishment]]
- Technical records kept for abuse prevention (IP address, user agent): [Retention period to be confirmed]
Legal review note: Set each period once confirmed with an accountant and legal adviser, then keep this list and the Privacy Policy consistent.
What happens at the end of a period
Records are deleted, or anonymised where a statistical record is still useful. Physical material, where any exists, is returned or securely destroyed: [procedure to be confirmed].
Requesting earlier deletion
You may ask us to delete your information at any time by writing to hello@rootsbyvera.eu. Where a legal or accounting obligation prevents deletion, we will explain what must be kept and for how long, and restrict its use in the meantime.