DocuSign Retention Management Account Administrators Specific Considerations and Instructions

While DocuSign’s retention settings are straightforward to activate, their implications are nuanced and which choices you implement will have significant impact. Before you implement Retention Management for your Department’s account, please consider:

• What should be purged?
  
  • Is it sufficient to purge only the envelope documents or should the metadata also be purged? Which approach complies best with your department’s business and compliance requirements?
    
    • The metadata includes, but is not limited to, document fields, envelope fields, and envelope attachments.
    • If the metadata is also purged, the envelope itself is the only thing remaining in the system. It remains in the account and is available for reporting and you can still view and download the envelope’s Certificate of Completion. The envelope details view shows the detailed information about the document purge, including the date and time of the purge. See What happens when an envelope enters the purge queue? for more information.

• If metadata is retained, consider whether to redact personally identifiable information from the metadata
  
  • When Redact personally identifiable information is selected, DocuSign redacts all personally identifiable information from the envelope, certificate of completion, and history. Fields that store personal data such as name, physical address, email, and IP address, are replaced with the text “Redacted”. Time stamps for when actions took place are left intact, but you won’t be able to identify the person who took that action. Additionally, Envelope Subject, Document Names (filenames), Tabs, & Signatures are "Redacted" as well since you must also select Remove fields and metadata in order to use this redaction option.
    
    • Per UC policy, if a DocuSign record is older than its required  retention period per the UC Records Retention Schedule [https://recordsretention.ucop.edu/],  it should be deleted and all personally identifiable information (including employee information) should be redacted. "Remove fields and metadata" should be selected and metadata should be redacted including all personally identifiable information classified at the P2 level or higher per UC Berkeley's data classification standard [https://security.berkeley.edu/data-classification-standard].
    • Additionally, before providing a DocuSign record (envelope, certificate of completion and/or history) to an external party in response to a Public Records Act (PRA) request, please consult with UC Berkeley's Public Records Coordinator at pra@berkeley.edu.  
    • Also, please keep in mind that any personally identifiable information classified at the P2 level or higher (not including information pertaining to the requester) per UC Berkeley's data classification standard [https://security.berkeley.edu/data-classification-standard] should be redacted prior to the disclosure of a DocuSign record to an external party in response to PRA request."
  • The process of redacting personal data cannot be undone. Each individual’s personal information on an envelope will be redacted from the envelope, rendering the audit log and certificate of completion untraceable (from Guide -  Envelope Purge - DocuSign Admin).
  • This feature is used in conjunction with Remove fields and metadata. In other words, it is only an option if Remove fields and metadata is selected as well.
  • If personally identifiable information is redacted the Certificate of Completion, Envelope History and the Activity History show “Redacted” in place of the original information. See “Best Practices for Retention and Purging”.

• Purge Email Notifications  in the Admin section are only for new users being created.  That setting doesn't affect users already on the account. They are controlled in the following hierarchy:
  
  • Email Preferences in Department Account Settings 
  • Personal notifications (sender’s and recipient’s) overrides Department Account Settings
  • An account-wide setting to suppress notifications sent to the Sender of the envelope. This setting must be requested with DocuSign Support to enable or your DocuSign Account Team which would contact DocuSign on your behalf. This overrides other settings.
• Submit a ticket to esignatures-support@berkeley.edu if you are interested in using an API integration to automate retention management.

Retention Management Implementation Instructions

Before you begin, review DocuSign’s instructions which include implications of making changes to your retention policy after it has been implemented.

The information below is generic and must be considered in conjunction with DocuSign’s instructions as well as your Department’s business and compliance requirements.

To set a document retention period

1. In DocuSign eSignature Admin, click Document Retention.
2. Click to check Enable document retention policy.
   

References

• General Audience Overview
• Recipient Specific Considerations
• Sender Specific Considerations
• Document Retention
• Document Retention & Targeted333 0 Envelope Purge: What you should know before using these features
• Best practices for document retention and purging
• Knowledge Market Article: Document Retention & Purging
• Envelope Purge - DocuSign Admin​
• Purge Envelopes Guide (end user guide)