Data Retention & Audit Policy
Last Updated: August 2, 2026
1. Purpose and Objectives
This Data Retention & Audit Policy establishes clear guidelines for how long BE Survey ("Platform," "We," "Us," or "Our") holds, stores, archives, and deletes data, as well as how system activity is monitored and audited. This policy applies to all corporate accounts, administrators, survey creators, employee participants, and system users.
The primary objective is to maintain database integrity, fulfill statutory compliance requirements, support internal business audits, protect user privacy, and ensure that obsolete or unnecessary data is securely destroyed.
2. Scope of Retained Data
To operate the BE Survey platform, we handle several categories of structured database records and web application logs:
- Organizational Profile Data: Company master records, GSTIN numbers, business addresses, subscription start and end dates, contact details, and logo references.
- User Account Details: First names, last names, corporate email addresses, phone numbers, job designations, hashed passwords, and assigned role IDs (Super Admin, Company Admin, Survey Admin, Sub Admin, and Participant).
- Survey Master & Questionnaire Data: Survey titles, display names, categories, start/end dates, question configurations, and option choices.
- Survey Responses & Rating Feedback: Completed participant submissions, numerical ratings, text comments, board/committee feedback forms, and execution progress flags.
- Application Audit Logs: Daily rolling Serilog log files, HTTP request traces, IP addresses, authentication attempts, OTP generation logs, and database procedure status codes.
3. Standard Data Retention Periods
We keep data only for as long as necessary to fulfill operational, contract, and legal requirements. Below are the standard retention timeframes enforced across our database infrastructure:
| Data Category | Retention Period | Reason for Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Active Company & User Profiles | Duration of active subscription + 90 days | To allow client account updates, service continuity, and potential subscription renewals. |
| Completed Survey Submissions | Up to 7 years (or per client enterprise agreement) | To support client reporting, annual comparative surveys, and corporate compliance audits. |
| System Audit Logs (Serilog Files) | 15 Days (Daily rolling log cycle) | To investigate active system errors, track security anomalies, and manage server disk space efficiently. |
| Authentication & OTP Logs | 30 Days | To verify user login histories, resolve access complaints, and detect brute-force attacks. |
| Database Backups | 90 Days (Rolling daily and weekly snapshots) | To ensure disaster recovery, protect against hardware failures, and recover corrupt data files. |
4. Audit Trails and Logging Architecture
BE Survey maintains robust, automated logging mechanisms to track application behavior, backend procedure executions, and security events:
A. Application Event Logging
Our backend utilizes Serilog integrated with a daily rolling file strategy. Event logs capture structured execution traces, including timestamps, log levels (Information, Warning, Error, Fatal), request paths, user contexts, and exception stack traces. Individual log files are capped at 5 MB with automatic splitting to prevent file bloat.
B. Database Procedure Audit Signals
Stored procedures across our SQL Server database enforce explicit output status parameters (e.g., @status_code and @status_message). Standard status returns include:
200 / 201:Successful data fetch or record creation.400 / 404:Input validation failure, missing required parameter, or record not found.500:Internal SQL transaction error or constraint failure.
C. Support & Complaint Records
Public and internal support tickets, issue reports, and administrator response logs recorded through complaint tables are stored for 3 years to maintain service quality records and operational accountability.
5. Account Termination and Data Deletion
When a corporate subscription expires, is terminated, or when a Company Admin requests account closure, the following multi-step deletion workflow is executed:
- Soft Deletion Phase (Grace Period): The organization's account status is updated to inactive (
is_active = 0oris_locked = 1). Active survey publishing links are disabled immediately, but stored data remains accessible to Super Administrators for 90 days in case of accidental cancellation. - Hard Deletion & Purging Phase: After 90 days, or upon explicit written instruction from an authorized client representative, database procedure tasks permanently purge or anonymize user context mappings, survey tables, and company details from active production tables.
- Backup Expiration: Residual records stored within encrypted database backups are overwritten automatically as backup retention windows expire.
6. Client Data Export Rights
Prior to account closure or subscription termination, Company Administrators have the right to request or export full reporting sets, response tables, and survey completion lists. Exports are generated in standard formats (such as Excel or CSV) through authorized management dashboard channels.
7. Disaster Recovery and Database Backups
To guard against data corruption, hardware loss, or unexpected server outages, BE Survey employs a rigorous backup routine:
- Daily Incremental Backups: Captured automatically during off-peak hours to minimize server load.
- Weekly Full Database Snapshots: Encrypted and stored in secure, geographically isolated cloud storage locations.
- Restoration Testing: Periodic restoration tests are conducted by system administrators to verify backup file integrity and ensure rapid recovery in emergency scenarios.
8. Compliance and Regulatory Alignment
This policy is designed to conform with standard global data governance principles, commercial record-keeping standards, and data protection practices. Where specific regional regulations require longer or shorter retention limits for particular types of workplace data, BE Survey works with enterprise clients to adjust data lifecycle schedules accordingly.
9. Policy Revisions
We review this Data Retention & Audit Policy periodically to ensure alignment with database schema updates, cloud infrastructure changes, and evolving legal requirements. Any modifications will be posted directly to this page with an updated "Last Updated" revision date.