Just got a notification from Google Drive informing me that if your account is inactive for 2 years, all your data in Drive will be deleted. I’m wondering and haven’t been able to find the answer anywhere, is there anything similar with Airtable? Is my data stored forever, or will Airtable ever delete it, if it’s up there long enough?
No SaaS provider stores anything forever unless you are paying forever. :winking_face: Even free tiers are subject to change and deletion; read the ToS if you want to have an unsettling day.
Most SaaS providers, however, are subject to FTC rules and they are also reasonable when it comes to any deletions typically offering you alternatives before deleting your content.
But imagine this scenario:
- You have a boat and you pay a storage company to keep it available for your fishing trips.
- You pay for this service for a while and then stop going fishing. You eventually stop paying the storage fees.
- The storage company sits on the boat for a year and calls you. You say you want the boat but ask if could they park it in an unprotected lot for now for free forever?
SaaS providers have similar limitations; storage requires space and space (in their case) requires a lot of electricity, security, maintenance, and updates.
Google is cracking down on systems that are in a “stasis” mode. If you aren’t using the data and there’s no evidence you or anyone else cares about such data, they are simply advising you that inactivity is cause for termination. If you log in and view the data, chances are good they won’t touch it and under FTC rules, they are obligated to inform you many times that action will be taken.
Lastly, all SaaS-based data should be preserved external to the system if it really matters to you or your firm.
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