Data retention and minimization are no longer back-office privacy tasks. As regulations tighten and data volumes explode, organizations face growing pressure to enforce what they collect, how long they keep it, and when they delete it. But for most privacy teams, this is easier said than done.

Retention is often inconsistent, scattered across departments, and enforced manually—if at all. Minimization is written into policies but rarely operationalized. Meanwhile, data sits, multiplies, and exposes the organization to unnecessary risk.

BigID changes that. With industry-first capabilities like retention scheduling and native deletion, BigID gives organizations the tools to move from policy to proof—automating enforcement, streamlining compliance, and reducing risk.

The Evolving Demands of Retention & Minimization

The stakes have never been higher. Across industries, privacy leaders are being asked to:

  • Demonstrate defensible data minimization practices
  • Align retention schedules to evolving global regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and GLBA
  • Eliminate stale or unnecessary data that increases breach risk
  • Streamline audits with clear documentation of enforcement and outcomes

Legacy tools fall short. They require technical expertise, can’t scale across diverse systems, and lack the automation needed for real-time enforcement. The result? Outdated records, compliance gaps, and missed opportunities to reduce exposure.

See BigID Next in Action

Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short

  • Manual Processes: Most organizations rely on spreadsheets, static policies, and siloed systems to manage retention, introducing risk and inconsistency.
  • Lack of Enforcement: Even when policies are defined, they’re rarely enforced at the source. Visibility without action creates a false sense of compliance.
  • Fragmented Rules: Without a centralized framework, regulations are interpreted and implemented differently across teams, leading to gaps and duplications.
  • No Business Context: Traditional tools lack a business layer. Privacy teams can’t easily map rules to record types, data subjects, or regulatory obligations.

BigID Makes Retention Work For Privacy, Legal, and Security

BigID is the only unified DSPM platform with integrated discovery, classification, retention scheduling, and native deletion to give organizations full control over the data lifecycle.

Retention Scheduling with Business Context

Define and enforce retention rules by record type using built-in business logic. First of its kind in any DSPM, BigID makes scheduling intuitive and accessible with no code or SQL required. Privacy and legal teams can manage and prove compliance without needing engineering support.

Native Deletion at Scale

Don’t just identify what to delete—actually delete it. BigID is the only solution with built-in deletion across cloud, on-prem, and SaaS environments. Purge expired, redundant, or risky data directly at the source, reducing your exposure and simplifying audit readiness.

Regulatory-Based Retention Mapping

Map policies directly to regulations like GDPR or HIPAA with a centralized, shared framework across teams. Eliminate fragmentation and ensure the consistent, defensible application of your retention strategy.

Automated Retention and Minimization

Apply and enforce retention rules across all data types with automation from identification to deletion. Know what to keep, what to delete, and when with confidence.

Why It Matters

By modernizing retention and minimization, organizations can:

  • Close compliance gaps and reduce audit risk with demonstrable enforcement
  • Cut breach exposure by eliminating unnecessary data at scale
  • Streamline collaboration across privacy, legal, and IT with shared visibility and automation
  • Save resources by replacing manual reviews with scalable, intelligent workflows

BigID is setting the standard for enforceable privacy. With capabilities no other platform offers—like native deletion and business-aligned retention scheduling—privacy teams can finally operationalize data minimization and deliver real business value.

Ready to transform your data retention strategy? Book a demo today or meet us in person at IAPP Global Privacy Summit, Booth #30.