Overview

At the completion of a research project your organization may require the deletion of project data, including research design and all submitted research content from scouts. dscout can support this with a new setting that automates project deletion.

When this deletion feature is turned on, a project that is marked complete will have its research design and all submitted research content deleted. Selected recipients will receive multiple reminders that this is a serious and irreversible action. Notifications that a project has been marked complete and is scheduled for data deletion are sent to the Account Owner (by default) and there is an option to have the project creator and/or any Admins on your account receive these notifications (if applicable). The high level project details, including title, launch date and number of completes are preserved in the Account Management section in the platform.

Triggering data deletion

To trigger the data deletion, start by marking a project 'complete' from the homepage. This will move projects to the Completed Projects tab on the home page.

Once all projects to be deleted are marked as ‘complete’, navigate to the ‘Settings’ tab found within the ‘Account Management’ section on the homepage. To enable data deletion, turn the feature on and set the ‘Scheduled amount of days’ until deletion from the drop down menu (14 days - 6 years). You can also customize who receives the data deletion emails. Account owners will always receive email notifications regarding project deletion when enabled. Additional recipients include Admin(s) and the project creator.

Once you set your data deletion timeline and manage notifications, click on ‘Save Updates’. A new window will appear showing the amount of projects that will be immediately deleted based on the schedule you set, if applicable. As a safety, you will be required to type “I Understand” for the changes to be saved. 

Additional deletion countdown warnings will appear in the header of the project card, which you will find in the ‘Completed Projects’ tab on the project home page.

Further details

Once the deletion counter has started, the Account Owner and team members with notifications enabled will receive a warning email 60, 30, 5 and 1 day from deletion, if applicable. A final email is sent confirming deletion.

To support research operation needs, deleted projects remain in the Account Management section. Their status is changed to ‘Deleted’ and the only available information is the project and mission names, project owner name, number of scouts and scout completes, and the launch dates.

If you wish to export your data prior to deletion, read more here.