Data Retention

In this article:

• What data does Originality retain?
• Retention periods
• How retention interacts with indexing
• The do-not-index signal
• Data subject requests

What data does Originality retain?

Originality retains the following information:

• Indexed documents: Submissions that have been added to the database for future comparison.
• Similarity reports: The report generated for each submission, including matches, scores, and exclusions.
• Processing metadata: Timestamps, document IDs, status, and statistics used for system performance and support.

Retention periods

Retention periods are defined in your institution's Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with UNIwise.

The default data retention periods of a new Originality license are as follows:

• Document retention period: Infinite
• Report retention period: Infinite
• Index retention period: Infinite

The appropriate retention periods for your institution will be configured by UNIwise during your onboarding.

How retention interacts with indexing

A document that is not indexed (for example, because the integrating system passed a do-not-index signal) is processed for matches but is not added to the comparison database. Its report is retained according to the report retention period, but the document itself is not used to match against future submissions.

A document that is indexed is retained as a comparison document for the configured retention period.

The do-not-index signal

The do-not-index signal is set per document either in the user interface or by the integrating system. The effect on retention is the same regardless of where the signal comes from:

• Orginality will analyze the document and return a report.

• The document will not be added to the database.
• Future submissions will not match against this document.

Data subject requests

Requests under GDPR (right of access, right to erasure, etc.) are handled in line with the DPA and UNIwise policies. Submit any data subject request to the Service Centre and include sufficient information to identify the document(s) involved – most importantly, the Originality source document ID, plus any identifier(s) from the integrating system (for example, flow ID, container ID, or external submission ID).