Data Retention & Destruction
Avolvia (Pty) Ltd keeps personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, to meet legal obligations, and to resolve disputes. When information is no longer required, we destroy or de-identify it in a way that prevents reconstruction. This page summarises our retention periods and how we destroy data.
1. Retention schedule
| Record | Retention period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Lead enquiries (no conversion) | Up to 24 months from last activity | Follow-up & re-engagement |
| Customer & CRM records | Life of relationship + 5 years | Contract, tax, dispute resolution |
| Call recordings & transcripts | 12 months (unless needed for a dispute) | Quality, training, evidence |
| Consent records | Duration of contact + 3 years after withdrawal | Proof of lawful basis (POPIA/CASL) |
| Marketing/campaign data | Until consent withdrawn + suppression kept indefinitely | Honour opt-outs |
| Invoices & financial records | 5 years | Tax & companies legislation |
| Account & technical logs | 12 months | Security & troubleshooting |
| Data after account termination | Deleted/de-identified within 90 days (export window) | Customer offboarding |
2. How we destroy data
- Live databases (Firestore): records are permanently deleted; deletions propagate to replicas.
- File storage (call recordings/transcripts): objects deleted from cloud storage; lifecycle rules auto-expire aged files.
- Backups: deleted data ages out of rolling backups within the backup retention window, after which it is unrecoverable.
- De-identification: where we retain analytics, we strip identifiers so data can no longer be linked to a person.
- Suppression: for opt-outs we keep the minimum needed (e.g. a hashed email) solely to prevent re-contact.
3. Your deletion rights
You may request deletion of your personal information at any time, subject to records we must keep by law. Contact our Information Officer, Bruce Steyn, at bruce@avolvia.app or +27 73 603 7051. We action verified requests promptly and confirm when complete.
See also our Privacy Policy, POPIA Notice, and PAIA Manual.