Ballpark's data retention system helps you manage study data responsibly and stay compliant with your data-handling policies. When enabled, it automatically schedules older studies for deletion based on your retention period—giving your team time to respond before anything is permanently removed.
This article covers how auto-deletion works and what to expect throughout the process. You can manage all your retention settings from Settings → Data Retention.
This feature is available on Enterprise workspaces: Only admins and owners can configure retention settings or receive deletion notifications.
What happens when data retention is enabled
Unlike manual study deletion, Ballpark's retention system follows a predictable, multi-stage process to ensure nothing is removed without warning. Here's the lifecycle every study follows once it reaches the end of your retention period:
Scheduled for deletion – The system identifies studies eligible for future deletion
Warning sent – Admins receive an email 30 days before the deletion date
Study deletion – The study and its responses are removed after the warning window closes
Key stages in the deletion timeline
30 days before deletion: You'll get a warning
When studies are approaching their deletion date, all workspace admins and owners receive a consolidated weekly email that includes:
All studies scheduled for deletion within 30 days
Days remaining for each study
A direct link to your Data Retention settings
These emails are sent once per week on Mondays and group multiple studies together so you're never overwhelmed with notifications.
Deletion day: Studies deleted
On the scheduled deletion date, your study is deleted deletion. This works the same way as manually deleting a study from the UI, the only difference is it happens automatically based on your retention schedule.
Managing your retention settings
You can review and adjust data retention from Settings → Data Retention. From here you can:
View all studies scheduled for deletion
Check response counts and last activity dates
Update your workspace's retention period
Opting a specific study out from deletion?
You can opt individual studies out of auto-deletion via the study settings. This is useful for high-value studies you want to keep indefinitely.
Simply open the study, press ⚙️ Settings → Opt out of data deletion
When deletion schedules get updated
Deletion dates are automatically recalculated when you:
Change your workspace's retention period
Opt a study back into auto-deletion after previously excluding it
Update a study's completion or response dates
When this happens, the system resets notification statuses and will send new warning emails at the appropriate time.
Common questions
Who receives deletion warnings?
Only workspace admins and owners receive email notifications about upcoming deletions.
Can I prevent a specific study from being deleted?
Yes. You can opt individual studies out of auto-deletion via the study settings. This is useful for high-value studies you want to keep indefinitely.
How often does the system check for studies to delete?
The system runs automated checks daily to keep deletion schedules accurate and execute deletions on schedule. Warning emails are sent weekly.