Episode 205: Data Inventory, Retention, and the Right to Be Forgotten (Domain 5)

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Managing personal data effectively starts with knowing exactly what you have, where it lives, how long you keep it, and what rights users have over it. In this final episode, we explore how to build and maintain a data inventory that tracks types of data collected, processing activities, access permissions, and storage locations. We also discuss retention policies that define how long different categories of data must be kept to satisfy legal, business, or regulatory requirements—balanced against the need to minimize risk and reduce unnecessary data storage. Central to privacy compliance is honoring data subject rights, including the right to be forgotten, which allows individuals to request deletion of their personal data under laws like GDPR. Implementing these rights requires technical and procedural coordination to ensure timely, complete, and verified data removal across systems and backups. Done correctly, data governance becomes not only a compliance tool—but a demonstration of respect and transparency to users and stakeholders.