# Policies  
## Data retention  

When you use Infobip's services, we collect and process personal data. Example: Mobile phone number, channel-specific unique IDs, email address of the person you contact, and the content of the communication that you send or receive.
  
We also keep the data that you store in databases and repositories such as People and Knowledge Base.
  
This page provides the data retention policy for Answers. For the data retention policy for Conversations, refer to the Conversations [documentation](https://www.infobip.com/docs/conversations/policies#data-retention).
  
### Data retention and deletion [#data-retention-and-deletion-data-retention]

It is important to make sure that the personal data, which we process on your behalf, is deleted after an appropriate time. We take into consideration your business needs and applicable legal requirements.
  
Unless otherwise agreed with you, we will implement default retention rules to make sure that your data is not kept longer than necessary. Refer to the [Default retention period](https://www.infobip.com/docs/policies#default-retention-period-data-retention) section.
  
If your business needs retention periods that differ from the default period, you can customize the retention period. Refer to the [Customized retention](https://www.infobip.com/docs/policies#customized-retention-data-retention) section.
  
Some data does not expire while you actively use Infobip services. Refer to the [Long-term retention](https://www.infobip.com/docs/policies#long-term-retention-data-retention) section.
  
### Default retention period [#default-retention-period-data-retention]

| Data | Trigger for deletion | Default retention period after deletion is triggered |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Communication contentConversation records. This includes personal data of end user and business; MSISDN; and other personal dataMessages, related content*, and metadata | Date the conversation or chat started | 6 months |
| Communication logs and reports, which contain details about your communication, along with the message text | Date the conversation or chat started | 6 months |
| Media received through digital channels. Example: Images, audio files, or other attachments | Date of communication with the end user | 30 days |
| Email: Attachments and inline media that are received and sent | Date of communication with the end user | 1 year |
| Advanced analytics | Date of communication with the end user | 6 months |
| * Outbound media files are deleted along with the related conversation, but the maximum time is 2 years. |
  
### Customized retention [#customized-retention-data-retention]

The retention period **cannot be increased** for the following:
  
- Media received through digital channels
- Email attachments and inline media that are received and sent
- Advanced analytics

To change the default retention period for other items, contact your Infobip account manager.
  
There are no charges to decrease the retention period. You will be charged a fee to increase the period.
  
### Long-term retention [#long-term-retention-data-retention]

The following data is retained while Infobip services are actively used.

- All end user records in People, Knowledge Base, and other databases
- Chatbot configuration
- Other account-level settings

The data is deleted only either on contract termination or after 18 months of account inactivity.
  
### Frequency of deletion [#frequency-of-deletion-data-retention]

Once a day, we check whether any data needs to be deleted based on the default/custom retention period, and delete the relevant data.
  
 Important
Deleted data is not recoverable.

### Archiving data [#archiving-data-data-retention]

You can export the details about your communication and archive it on your infrastructure. This data includes message text and traffic data.
  
If you have enabled the [Conversations](https://www.infobip.com/docs/conversations) solution, you can do the following:

- Download messages from a single conversation as a [transcript](https://www.infobip.com/docs/conversations/get-to-know-conversations#conversation-transcript-my-work-panel).
- View the transcript report in [Conversation analytics](https://www.infobip.com/docs/conversations/analytics#conversation-transcript-reporting) > Reporting section.