How long should I keep subscriber data?

The appropriate retention period for subscriber data depends on the type of data, its purpose, and applicable legal requirements. Active subscriber data-email addresses, preferences, and consent records for people currently receiving your emails-should be retained as long as the subscription relationship is active. Once someone unsubscribes, the calculus changes: you need to retain suppression data (the email address and fact of unsubscription) indefinitely to prevent re-contact, but extensive profile data and engagement history no longer serve a necessary purpose and should be deleted or anonymized.

For consent records and proof of opt-in, retention periods should extend beyond the subscription relationship to protect against potential challenges or regulatory inquiries. Many organizations retain consent evidence for 5-7 years after the subscription ends, aligned with typical legal limitation periods for complaints or enforcement actions. This ensures you can demonstrate valid consent if questions arise years later, while not retaining data indefinitely. For engagement data (opens, clicks, behavioral tracking), shorter retention periods are usually appropriate-detailed engagement history beyond 2-3 years rarely provides analytical value and adds unnecessary data exposure.

Develop tiered retention schedules that apply different rules to different data types. Active subscribers: retain all necessary data while relationship continues. Unsubscribed: retain suppression record indefinitely, consent evidence for 5-7 years, delete or anonymize other data within 30-90 days. Bounced addresses: retain on suppression list, delete other data promptly. Hard bounces older than a certain period without re-activation: consider complete deletion. Document these schedules in your data retention policy and implement automated processes to enforce them. Retention isn't one-size-fits-all-different data serves different purposes with different shelf lives.