Creating end-user deletion schedules

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Data retention policies are critical for companies to ensure regulatory compliance, as many industries have laws mandating the retention of certain data types. For example, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation requires EU companies not to retain personal data longer than necessary, and companies must be able to demonstrate compliance with this principle. Often, companies must comply with multiple data retention laws, depending on industry and location.</p>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">You can create end-user deletion schedules to automatically delete inactive users based on conditions like last activity, organization, or tags. This helps maintain compliance with data retention laws by removing users after a set inactivity period. Deleted users are soft deleted first, then permanently removed after 30 days. Only one schedule can be active at a time unless you have an add-on for multiple schedules.</p>
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<p class="p">Data retention policies are critical for companies to ensure regulatory compliance, as
many industries have laws mandating the retention of certain data types. For example,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation requires EU companies not to
retain personal data longer than necessary, and companies must be able to demonstrate
compliance with this principle. Often, companies must comply with multiple data
retention laws, depending on industry and location.</p>
<div class="p">User deletion schedules allow admins and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agents in custom roles</a> with permission to create data
retention policies for end users in your Zendesk account, deleting end users that meet
certain conditions. For example, you can create end-user deletion schedules like
these:<ul class="ul" id="zug_tickets_timed_delete__ul_lrf_bn2_rzb">
<li class="li">Delete end users that haven't been active in three years</li>
<li class="li">Delete end users whose organization is NOT Acme, Inc. that haven't been active
in two years</li>
<li class="li">Delete end users without the tag <em class="ph i">retain</em> that haven't been active in 18
months</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">When you <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821737498" target="_blank">delete end users</a> in Zendesk, they’re soft
deleted and queued for permanent deletion after 30 days. </p>
<div class="p">This article covers the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="zug_tickets_timed_delete__ul_jg3_nrk_pyb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ogb_ypk_pyb">About end-user deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_cd2_zpk_pyb">Creating end-user deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_rbk_rjd_kcc">Building condition statements for end-user deletion schedules</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Related articles:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="zug_tickets_timed_delete__ul_ik4_bry_mdc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6388012977306" target="_blank">Creating ticket deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8499219792154" target="_blank">Creating deletion schedules for bot-only
conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8301879320474" target="_blank">About the Deletion schedules page</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ogb_ypk_pyb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About end-user deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">End-user deletion schedules continuously search for and delete end users who haven't
been active for a specified period of time. For example, if you create a schedule
that deletes an end user after one year of inactivity, but the end user comments on
a ticket within that time, the end user is not deleted. The clock starts over, and
the user will be deleted one year after they've been last active. </p>
<div class="p">The last active date considers activities that were driven by the user:<ul class="ul" id="topic_ogb_ypk_pyb__ul_oll_14k_12c">
<li class="li">The end user's last activity on the help center, including the last time
they searched for, viewed, or commented on an article.</li>
<li class="li">The end user's last comment on a ticket where they are requester or CC'd.
This is the timestamp of the user's last comment on the ticket.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">User activity is <em class="ph i">not</em> activity driven by a team member or Zendesk, such as the
time a ticket was closed.</p>
<p class="p">After it's activated, a deletion schedule isn't a one-off event. Zendesk continuously
searches for and deletes end users unless you deactivate the schedule. Deletion
schedules start to delete eligible end users within 72 hours of meeting the defined
criteria. For example, if a schedule deletes inactive end users after 3 years, it
will start deleting them within 72 hours of reaching 3 years of inactivity. Zendesk
can delete up to 24,000 end users per account per day.</p>
<p class="p">Deletion schedules soft delete end users, meaning users are still in the Zendesk
database and accessible on a limited basis to Zendesk employees with certain
database privileges. You can then <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408845703194#topic_ojp_mjj_hdb" target="_blank">permanently delete the user</a>, or take no
additional action, and Zendesk deletes the user permanently after 30 days.</p>
<p class="p">You can track these changes in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828001434" target="_blank">audit log</a> by filtering by <strong class="ph b">Activity type:
Updated</strong>.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_ogb_ypk_pyb__image_or2_v1z_mdc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/user_deletion_audit_log.png" width="800"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_cd2_zpk_pyb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Creating end-user deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can create up to 10 end-user deletion schedules, but only one end-user deletion
schedule can be active at a time. If you have the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6561144266906" target="_blank">Advanced Data Privacy and Protection add-on</a>, you can
activate up to 10 end-user deletion schedules.</p>
<div class="note tip" id="topic_cd2_zpk_pyb__note_ung_qfj_12c">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> To give feedback on more conditions to add,
complete this short <a class="xref" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjZXhMzcZ3IGl7-6GubfPKOGfHCkyGjJdKevLMPGfvQap7Ag/viewform" target="_blank">Google form</a>.</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create an end-user deletion schedule</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_cd2_zpk_pyb__ol_mb5_q1v_qzb">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_account_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Account</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Security &gt; Deletion schedules</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create deletion schedule</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">End users</strong>.<p class="p">If you already
created 10 end-user deletion schedules, a message appears notifying you that
you’ve reached your limit. You must delete a schedule before you can create
a new one.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Enter the <strong class="ph b">Schedule name</strong>.<p class="p">Use a consistent naming convention to help you
recognize similar types of deletion schedules.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Enter a <strong class="ph b">Description</strong> for your deletion schedule.</li>
<li class="li">For <strong class="ph b">Last active</strong>, indicate when to delete end users based on when they
were last active in Zendesk. This field is required.<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_cd2_zpk_pyb__note_q3m_lhb_ndc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The earliest last active date is January 1,
2018. End users who were last active before that date are marked as last
active on January 1, 2018. In addition, only ticket activity is
considered between January 1, 2018 and March 1, 2021. Any help center
activity during this period is ignored. </div>
</div>
<p class="p"><img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/deletion_schedule_users_conditions.png" width="700"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add condition</strong> to add additional conditions for deleting end users,
such as by organization or tags. You can configure the deletion schedule to
delete end users that meet <em class="ph i">All</em> or <em class="ph i">Any</em> of the specified conditions.
See <a class="xref" href="#topic_rbk_rjd_kcc">Building condition statements
for end-user deletion schedules</a>.<p class="p">You can add one additional
condition for deleting end users. If you have the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6561144266906" target="_blank">Advanced Data Privacy and Protection
add-on</a>, there's no limit to the number of conditions you can
add.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select a <strong class="ph b">Category</strong>, <strong class="ph b">Operator</strong>, and <strong class="ph b">Value</strong> for each
condition.<p class="p">The operator determines the relationship between the category
and the value. For example, if you select the operator <em class="ph i">Is</em>, your
category must equal the value.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) After conditions are added, click <strong class="ph b">Preview</strong> to preview an
approximate number of end users that match and will be deleted when the schedule
is active.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8301879320474#topic_nlj_q4y_fdc" target="_blank">Activate</a> the deletion schedule. </li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_rbk_rjd_kcc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Building condition statements for end-user deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Condition statements consist of categories, field operators, and condition values
(which vary depending on the category selected). Condition statements are
essentially "if" statements that delete tickets meeting the specified criteria.</p>
<p class="p">The table below lists the categories available for building condition statements for
end-user deletion schedules.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_rbk_rjd_kcc__table_hvf_2gy_m1c" rules="all" summary="">
<caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 1. </span>End-user deletion schedule categories</span></caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width:30.03003003003003%">
<col style="width:69.96996996996997%">
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d88e325" style="vertical-align:top;">Category</th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d88e328" style="vertical-align:top;">Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e325" style="vertical-align:top;">Last active</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e328" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes end users based on when they were last active in your
Zendesk account. At least one Last active condition is
required.<p class="p">Deletion schedules delete end users that have
been <em class="ph i">inactive</em> for the time period specified in the
Last active field. For example, if Last active is set to 365
days, and the end user commented on an article within that
time, the end user is not deleted. The clock starts over,
and the end user will be deleted 365 days from the last
active date.</p>
<div class="p">Activities that count toward an end
user's activity in the help center or community include:<ul class="ul" id="topic_rbk_rjd_kcc__ul_i3f_xdz_k2c">
<li class="li">Viewing and searching for articles and posts</li>
<li class="li">Commenting on articles and posts</li>
<li class="li">Submitting or viewing a support request</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Activities that count toward an end user's
activity in Support include:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_rbk_rjd_kcc__ul_nrn_y2z_k2c">
<li class="li">Ticket comments made by the end user as the requester on
a ticket</li>
<li class="li">Ticket comments made by the end user as a CC on the
ticket</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">If a user never performs any activity, the date the user
record was created is used as the initial last active
timestamp, making them eligible for deletion once that date
exceeds the schedule's timeframe. </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e325" style="vertical-align:top;">Organization</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e328" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes end users based on organization, if you have multiple
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886146842" target="_blank">organizations</a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e325" style="vertical-align:top;">Tags</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e328" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes end users with the selected <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408881573658" target="_blank">user tags</a>.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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