DPGNotes Data Retention & Disposal Policy

1. Lifecycle Governance & Data Minimization Mandate

DPGNotes enforces an uncompromising data lifecycle policy grounded in the statutory principle of storage limitation. Under Section 8(7) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and Article 5(1)(e) of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data must not be stored for longer than is strictly necessary to fulfill the educational purpose for which it was collected. Once those educational and operational goals are concluded, personal information must be permanently expunged or anonymized.

This Data Retention & Disposal Policy establishes transparent lifecycle schedules, automated purging routines, self-service account termination mechanisms, and cryptographic disposal standards across all DPGNotes data repositories.

2. Comprehensive Data Retention Schedule

Our infrastructure enforces strict automated and policy-based retention windows across seven operational categories:

3. Cover Page Generator Data Lifecycle & User Control

Our document preparation utilities (the Assignment Cover Page Generator and Practical Cover Page Generator) handle student submission metadata, including Student Name, Roll Number, Subject Code, and Course/Section. We enforce strict data handling protocols for this information:

• Local-First Preview: Cover page generation logic executes entirely in the client browser's memory. Document layout rendering occurs on client canvas/HTML components without transmitting drafts to third-party ad networks.
• Logging for History & Re-Editing: Submitted generator records are logged to support quick-action user features (View, Download, Edit, and Delete).
• Immediate Self-Service Log Purge: Both guest users and registered contributors possess real-time control to remove any generated log entry directly from their history view, triggering an immediate database deletion.

4. Self-Service Account Termination: The Danger Zone Protocol

Every registered student contributor exercises uninhibited autonomy over their digital presence on DPGNotes. Through your Contributor Dashboard → Account Settings → Danger Zone, you can trigger irreversible account closure at any time. When invoked, our database executes an atomic deletion transaction:

• Your authenticated User UID, display handle, contact email, and biographical details are permanently purged from our primary database.
• Active session authorization tokens are instantly revoked across all connected devices.
• Note Retention Choice: You are provided a clear binary choice: (a) delete all your uploaded lecture notes permanently from the platform, or (b) release your study guides into the open public domain under anonymous community attribution so future students can continue benefiting from your educational contributions.

5. Statutory Right to Erasure (Right to Be Forgotten)

Under Section 12 of the DPDP Act 2023 and GDPR Article 17, students hold the statutory right to request the total erasure of any personal information held by DPGNotes. If you wish to execute a formal erasure request outside the automated self-service dashboard:

• Submit a signed erasure request to our Data Protection Officer at its.akshatnetworkhub23@gmail.com.
• Specify your registered email or contributor profile handle.
• Verification and hard deletion are finalized within thirty (30) calendar days, accompanied by an electronic certificate of disposal.

6. Cryptographic Shredding & Secure Disposal Standards

When data reaches its retention threshold or an erasure directive is executed, DPGNotes ensures that records cannot be reconstructed, recovered, or carved from residual cloud blocks:

• NIST SP 800-88 Conformance: Logical database deletions overwrite indexes and document fields in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitization.
• Key Shredding: For encrypted cold storage archives, data disposal is finalized through cryptographic key shredding—destroying the decryption keys, rendering underlying ciphertext mathematically unrecoverable.

7. Legal Hold Exceptions & Statutory Preservation

The standard retention schedules articulated herein are subject to temporary suspension solely in cases of formal Legal Hold. Where DPGNotes receives a binding statutory preservation order from a court of competent jurisdiction or a registered cyber police notice under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure / Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), records directly pertinent to an active cyber fraud investigation or copyright lawsuit will be isolated and preserved until formal judicial release.

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