Data Retention and Deletion Policy

Retention principles

ArchForge should collect and retain only what is needed for defined purposes, security, legal obligations and documented operational recovery. Actual periods must match the deployed database, logs, application code, storage configuration and backups. This document is a publishable policy only after the fields below are verified.

Required data schedule

Category	Actual retention or trigger — verification required
Active accounts, profile and credentials	User accounts and associated personal data are retained for as long as the account remains active. Upon account deletion, personal data will be deleted or anonymized within 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required by applicable law or necessary for legitimate legal obligations.
Ended accounts and residual records	When a user closes their account, associated personal data will be deleted or anonymized within 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required by applicable law. Certain records may be retained for legal, tax, security, or fraud prevention purposes, where necessary and legally permitted.
Session records and login attempts	User session and login information is retained only for as long as necessary to provide secure authentication, maintain account functionality, and protect the platform against unauthorized access.

Session cookies and authentication tokens are managed according to the platform's configured session expiration and logout policies.

Login records, including timestamps, IP addresses, and authentication events, may be temporarily retained for security monitoring, fraud prevention, and investigation of suspicious activities.

Login and session records are deleted or anonymized when they are no longer necessary, unless continued retention is required or permitted by applicable law.

Security-related login records are handled in accordance with our Security Log Retention Policy.

All session and authentication data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our Privacy Policy. | | Security, rate-limit and audit logs | Security logs, including login attempts, IP addresses, authentication events, system access records, and suspicious activities, are retained only for as long as necessary to protect our platform, prevent fraud, investigate security incidents, and comply with applicable legal obligations.

Security logs are periodically reviewed and automatically deleted or anonymized according to our data retention policies.

Certain security records may be retained for longer periods where necessary for ongoing security investigations, fraud prevention, legal claims, or compliance with applicable laws.

Access to security logs is restricted to authorized personnel, and appropriate technical and organizational measures are implemented to protect this information.

All security log data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our Privacy Policy. | | Public and private Git objects | Git repositories, source code, commit histories, branches, and associated files are retained for as long as necessary for project development, maintenance, security, and version control.

Deleted files may remain accessible in previous Git commits until the relevant repository history is permanently removed.

When a repository is deleted, its content is removed from active storage according to our data deletion procedures. Any remaining backup copies are retained and deleted in accordance with our Backup Retention Policy.

Publicly shared, cloned, or downloaded repositories may remain accessible outside our control.

Personal data contained in Git repositories is handled in accordance with applicable GDPR requirements and our Privacy Policy. | | Issues, PRs, discussions, groups and chats | Community posts, comments, discussions, and other user-generated content are retained for as long as they remain active on the platform. When content is deleted by a user or removed by the platform, associated personal data will be deleted or anonymized within 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required by applicable law. Backup copies are handled according to our backup retention policy. | | Moderation notices and evidence | Our platform retains moderation records, user reports, content removal decisions, warnings, account restrictions, and related information only for as long as reasonably necessary to maintain platform safety, enforce our community guidelines, resolve disputes, and comply with applicable legal obligations.

Moderation records are periodically reviewed and deleted or anonymized when they are no longer necessary.

Certain records may be retained for longer periods where required by law or necessary for ongoing investigations, legal claims, fraud prevention, or the protection of users.

Access to moderation records is restricted to authorized personnel.

All moderation-related personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our Privacy Policy. | | Email delivery and notification records | Notifications, including system alerts, account activity updates, messages, and security notifications, are retained for as long as necessary to provide our services and maintain platform functionality.

Users may delete notifications where this functionality is available.

Notifications and associated personal data are deleted or anonymized when they are no longer necessary for their original purpose.

Certain security-related notifications may be retained for longer periods where required for fraud prevention, account security, legal compliance, or dispute resolution.

Email notifications are delivered through our self-hosted email server located in the Netherlands.

All notification-related personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our Privacy Policy. | | Backups and disaster-recovery snapshots | Backup copies of user data are retained for a maximum of 30 days and are automatically deleted or overwritten after this period. Backups are securely stored and accessible only to authorized personnel. Deleted user data may remain in backups until the applicable retention period expires. | | Webhook queues, payloads and deliveries | Webhook events, delivery logs, transaction references, timestamps, and processing statuses are retained only for as long as necessary to ensure reliable system operations, payment verification, security monitoring, and troubleshooting.

Webhook data received from third-party services, including SumUp, is processed securely and used only for its intended purpose.

Webhook records are periodically reviewed and deleted or anonymized when they are no longer necessary.

Certain records may be retained for longer periods where required by applicable law, accounting obligations, fraud prevention, or ongoing security investigations.

Access to webhook logs is restricted to authorized personnel.

All webhook-related personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our Privacy Policy. | | Donation records, SumUp checkout identifiers and confirmation emails | Donation records are retained for accounting, financial reporting, fraud prevention, and compliance with applicable legal and tax obligations.

Donation records may include transaction dates, donation amounts, payment references, and limited donor information.

Where Dutch statutory accounting retention requirements apply, financial transaction records are retained for a minimum of seven years.

Personal data that is not required for legal or accounting purposes will be deleted or anonymized when it is no longer necessary.

All donation payments are processed through SumUp, which may retain payment information in accordance with its own privacy policy and legal obligations.

Access to donation records is restricted to authorized personnel. |

Do not fill this table with aspirational periods. If the application cannot enforce a claimed deletion deadline, update the software and operational procedures before publication.

Requests and validation

An account holder may submit a privacy request via /settings/privacy. Access, correction, erasure, restriction and objection requests are reviewed under applicable data-protection law. An authenticated request is not automatically executed: operators may need to verify identity, resolve disputes about shared project ownership, document statutory exceptions and prevent disclosure of third-party data.

Technical limits and copies

Deleting an item from the visible interface is different from purging historical Git objects, snapshots, backups, third-party forks and external clones. We explain which copies are within our control and which are not, and document any lawful preservation. Where backups are time-limited, specify the verified rotation and restore policy before publishing.

Governance

Only authorized personnel should approve disposal or exceptional preservation, and an audit record should capture any legally significant deviation. Incident-response evidence should be retained only for an appropriate, documented period.

Changes and version history

This policy applies from its stated effective date once published. Material changes are dated and versioned. Earlier versions remain available to administrators for audit, and any notice or renewed agreement required by applicable law is handled separately. Questions and legally valid notices may be sent using the contact details in the Legal Notice.