Data retention changes coming in 2023

About forthcoming data retention changes

Webex is removing the option to retain messaging data for an indefinite time period. At present, we do not have a default retention period. Which means that if you have not set a retention policy, Webex retains your user-generated content indefinitely.

This retention applies to new as well as historical data. For example, If the retention policy is set to 360 days and takes into effect from 31st Jan 2023, a meeting recording generated on or before 5th Feb 2022, gets deleted. Similarly, with the retention period set to 360 days, a meeting recording generated on 1st October 2022 is deleted by 26 September 2023.

By introducing a default retention period, we're helping you manage the lifecycle of your user-generated content, reduce your data footprint, and ensure you can meet compliance and regulatory standards.

This change applies to user-generated content for all enterprise Webex customers.

This change does not affect you if you already defined a retention policy. Your retention period stays the same.

Retention period changes and dates

Table 1. Webex data retention policy changes and dates for Pro Pack customers
Data type	Pro Pack?	Current default retention period	New default retention period	Date of change
Webex Space—Messages, files, whiteboards	Without Pro Pack	Indefinite	360 days	8^th March 2023
Webex Space—Messages, files, whiteboards	With Pro Pack	Indefinite	1095 days	31^st March 2023
Webex Meetings—Recordings, transcripts, saved in-meeting chats	Without Pro Pack	Indefinite	360 days	8^thMarch 2023
	With Pro Pack	Indefinite	1095 days	31^st March 2023

The retention policy for in-meeting chats only applies to saved in-meeting chats. You can save in-meeting chats only if you're on the Webex Suite meeting platform.

The retention policy doesn’t cover the chats that occur in breakout sessions. You can use the Webex API to take offline copies of your chats.

New UI changes

We're progressively rolling out the new UI changes. This means that some organizations may still see the old UI and some may see the new UI in Control Hub.

Sign in to your organization in Control Hub at https://admin.webex.com, and go to Organization Settings, and scroll to Retention.

Define a Webex Space Retention Policy by clicking Modify and then:

Choose the Default or a Custom retention period for 1-1 Chat.
Choose the Default or a Custom retention period for Group Chat.
Click Save.

The minimum values are 1 day, 1 month, or 1 year. The maximum values are 3600 days, 120 months, or 10 years. The values control how long Webex keeps user-generated messages, files, and whiteboards. You can set different or the same values for 1-1 and group chats, respectively.

Define a Webex Meetings Retention Policy by clicking Settings and then:

Under Retention Policy:

Choose the Default or a Custom retention period for meeting data.

The minimum value is 7 days, and the maximum value is 3600 days. The value controls how long Webex keeps recordings, transcripts, and highlights from your meetings.

Under Deleted recording:

Choose Purged within 30 days or Follow the retention policy as set above.
Click Save.

What you should do to prepare for this change

If you don't do anything, we set your retention period to the new default on the date given above.

If you don't want to keep user-generated data, or you don't care about how we handle this data, you don't need to do anything. We'll stop keeping the data indefinitely; instead, we'll purge it after the new default retention period.

If you want to control your user-generated Webex content, these are your options:

Change your organization's retention period through Control Hub:

Table 2. Retention period choices
Data type	Do you have Pro Pack?	Minimum	Maximum	Default
Webex Space—Messages, files, whiteboards	No	1 day	360 days	360 days
Webex Space—Messages, files, whiteboards	Yes	1 day	3600 days	1095 days
Webex Meetings—Recordings, transcripts, in-meeting chats	No	7 days	360 days	360 days
Webex Meetings—Recordings, transcripts, in-meeting chats	Yes	7 days	3600 days	1095 days

The retention controls for messaging are not yet available in Control Hub unless you have Pro Pack. We intend to make the controls available for all enterprise customers in 2023.

Consider upgrading to Pro Pack if you want to retain data for longer than the new limits.
Consider using eDiscovery for managing data for compliance.
Consider integrating with your data archiving tools if you want to take user-generated Webex content to an "offline" copy.
Subscribe to our Data retention article to be notified when this change happens.
Contact your Cisco account representative if necessary.