The principle
We keep personal data only as long as it is needed for the arbitration, for the time limits to challenge or enforce the award, and for what the law requires. After that we delete it. Periods follow the law and the advice of our legal advisers, and they may change when the law does.
What is in place today. The platform deletes case documents automatically once a period has been set for their type. No periods have been set yet: our legal advisers are fixing them. Until they are, no case document is deleted automatically. We will publish the periods on this page once they are set.
How long each record is kept
| Record | How long | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case documents: notices, proofs of service, filings, orders, awards, postal proofs, hearing recordings and summaries | A period set for each type of document on legal advice: at least 30 days, counted from when the document was created or from when the case closed | Not set yet, so nothing is deleted automatically today. A legal hold stops deletion. |
| Case and party details, and notice delivery records | For as long as the case documents they belong to | Delivery records and proofs of service are the evidence that notice was given, so they are kept with the case. |
| Audit log | Never deleted by the platform | It can only be added to. A fingerprint of each day’s log is kept in a locked store for 10 years (3,650 days) and cannot be changed or deleted before then. |
| Deletion records | Kept after a document is deleted | They hold a fingerprint (SHA-256) of the deleted file, the date and the rule applied, not the file itself. |
| Case and campaign ZIP downloads | 72 hours from the request | Deleted automatically every hour once 72 hours have passed. |
| Uploads awaiting checks | 2 days | Files that were uploaded but never accepted are deleted automatically. |
| Deleted files | Up to 30 days more | Our storage keeps deleted files and earlier versions for 30 days in case of mistakes. An erasure can remove them sooner. |
| Database backups | A limited rolling period, then overwritten | Automatic backups in Azure. Data deleted from the platform leaves the backups as they roll over. |
| Security and access logs | The law requires at least 180 days in India (CERT-In Directions), and at least one year from 13 May 2027 (DPDP Rules) | Our logs are stored in Azure, Central India. We are confirming that the live setting meets these periods. |
| Respondent access to the portal | Ends when the case is closed, withdrawn, settled or archived | The firm may allow read-only access after closing for 1 to 90 days, with a reason. This is off by default. |
| Sign-in codes | 5 minutes | Removed once they expire or are used. |
| Sessions | Staff, Client and arbitrator users: 30 minutes idle, 12 hours at most. Respondents: 15 minutes idle, 2 hours at most. | These are the default times. The record of each session is kept as part of the security records. |
| Remembered devices | 30 days | The device cookie that flags new devices lasts up to 400 days. |
| User accounts | Kept after an account is removed | Access ends at once. The account record and its audit trail are not deleted automatically. The IT Rules require registration details to be kept for 180 days after an account is cancelled. |
| Emails you send us (grievances, requests) | No fixed period set yet | Our mailbox is hosted by Google Workspace (see the sub-processors page). Each request is also logged on the platform with the date it arrived and a due date. |
Times above that the platform enforces itself (sign-in codes, sessions, downloads, uploads awaiting checks) are set in the code. Backup and log periods are set on our Azure services.
Copies held by our providers
| Provider | What it keeps | For how long |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare RealtimeKit | Hearing recordings, only if the arbitrator recorded | Up to 7 days. We keep our own copy as a case document. |
| Meta (WhatsApp Cloud API) | WhatsApp messages in transit | Up to 30 days |
| CallMissed | WhatsApp conversations | For the life of our account with CallMissed, as its policy states |
| Cloudflare Web Analytics | Raw page-view data, without cookies | 7 days |
| Azure Communication Services | Addresses that hard-bounced | For a short time, to stop repeat sending |
| Cloudflare R2 (old storage) | Copy of documents uploaded before 4 October 2026 | Until we delete it once the move to Azure is fully checked |
See the sub-processors page for where each provider processes data.
Legal holds
Our staff can place a legal hold on a case, for example when an award is challenged or enforced, or when a court or authority asks for the records. A hold stops the automatic deletion of that case’s documents until it is lifted. Each hold records its reason, who placed it and when, and lifting it is recorded the same way.
How deletion works
- A scheduled job runs every night at 02:30 India time. It deletes documents whose period has ended, unless a legal hold applies.
- For each deleted document we keep a deletion record (a fingerprint, the date and the rule applied), so the record shows that the file existed and was deleted, without keeping the file.
- Deleted files leave our storage within 30 days, and leave the database backups as they roll over.
Asking us to erase your data
You can ask us to erase your personal data by writing to support@abirnyayasetu.com. See the Privacy Notice for what to include. We will erase what we can and tell you what we cannot erase and why. We usually cannot erase:
- data in a case that is still open, or in a case under a legal hold;
- records the law requires us to keep, including logs under the CERT-In Directions and records needed while an award can still be challenged or enforced;
- the audit log, which by design cannot be changed: removing an entry would break the evidence of every other step;
- a notice, order or award already served on other parties. Their copies belong to their own records.
Questions
To ask which period applies to your case, write to support@abirnyayasetu.com. Complaints go to the Grievance Officer: see the grievance page.
Nyaya Setu, ABIR Institute for Arbitration LLP (LLPIN ADC-7008), Registered office: Flat 402, Suryavandan Apt, Rokdoba Mandir, Shivajinagar, Haveli, Pune 411005, Maharashtra, India