Full Delete
Table of contents
The strictest rule in the Data Retention settings is the Full Delete option.
If you enable the option Full Delete in your Netigate account or survey, there will be a scheduled deletion of all survey data based on your Data Retention settings. This means your surveys will be removed completely from the Netigate servers.
Important: Once a survey has been removed, it is permanently deleted. The action is irreversible and the survey impossible to restore.
We recommend that you set up an internal process for the handling of all survey data. This will help to avoid losing questions, results, and reports that you may need in the future.
Where do I find Full Delete?
There are two different locations to manage the deletion date of your survey:
Please note that these settings are only available for Admins.
For more information, click here.
What will be deleted?
Fully deleting surveys will irreversibly remove all data connected to the survey:
- All answers connected to the survey(s) will be irreversibly deleted.
- All survey reports connected to the survey(s) will be irreversibly deleted.
- All respondents connected to the survey(s) will be irreversibly deleted.
- All questions and sendouts connected to the survey(s) will be irreversibly deleted.
- All translations connected to the survey(s) will be irreversibly deleted.
For more information and a comparison of which data will be deleted with full delete vs partial delete, click here.
When will it be deleted?
Data gets deleted on the evening of the scheduled day. This means that if you set a deletion for 4 years after the survey end date, and the end date is the 31st May 2018, your survey will be scheduled for deletion on the 31st May 2022 from 20:00 CEST. Deletions are performed during the night, but the specific time depends on the respective length of the deletion queue.
Questions & Answers
When performing a Full Delete there are several things to take into consideration. Here are a couple of examples:
Using question templates
Question: I am working with surveys in Netigate with the purpose of using them as templates. I copy my survey so I can reuse the questionnaire for future surveys. How will I manage this in the future?
Answer: You will need to mark these surveys with individual survey settings, to avoid them being deleted after the set amount of days that you have assigned in the account settings.
To do this you will need to go to Survey Settings and Survey Retention Settings and set the “Will be deleted after”-date to a date far in the future. This will override the account setting and keep the survey template in your account. This makes it possible for you to use it as many times as you need during this period.
The screenshot above shows an example date. This means that the survey will be scheduled for permanent deletion at midnight (CEST) of the 10th of May 2050.
Comparing survey results/benchmarking
Question: I am conducting different surveys in consecutive years (e.g. an employee or customer survey) and I want to compare the results from one year to the next, using the previous year’s result as a benchmark. What should I do if my previous surveys are scheduled to be deleted?
Answer: Should your previous survey results be deleted due to a Data Retention rule set up on your account or survey, this will be a challenge since you will not be able to restore the data to create a merge of the surveys, or export the data to create a report in Excel or PowerPoint.
Before the survey is deleted, you will need to export all the data connected to your survey in a format that you can work with when building your reports in the future. Should you have the possibility of exporting your survey results to a Raw data format you will be able to rebuild the survey in the tool. In the exported file, ensure that you remove all personal data in accordance with GDPR. You can then use the function called Import survey data to import data to the survey. This will make it possible for you to create merges and comparisons in the tool
Working with an ongoing survey
Question: I am conducting a survey that is expected to be live over a long period of time. What will happen to my survey during this period?
Answer: This depends on the selection you have made in your account and survey settings.
If you only have the number of days specified in the account settings: Nothing. An ongoing survey will not be affected by any of the account’s Data Retention rules at this time. The full deletion of survey data is only performed on surveys once the end date has passed and they are set as completed.
If you have set a date for Full delete in the survey settings: The survey will always be fully deleted on the date that is set in Survey settings. Regardless of whether the survey is ongoing or not.
If you have a value set for Full delete after days: If the survey is sent via e-mail or SMS, the respondents, sendout, and answer will be fully deleted after the amount of days that is set in the survey settings. This counts as number of days since the sendout to the respondent was completed. If there are answers submitted from a survey link the countdown to final deletion will begin from the day that the answer was registered.
Respondent lists and sendouts
Question: I have sendouts and respondent lists that I have uploaded to my surveys. What will happen with these sendouts?
Answer: They will be deleted together with the survey. No data connected to the survey will be saved once a full delete is actioned.
If you have e-mail texts that you want to keep, there is an option called E-mail templates in your Account settings where these can be stored. This function is only available for Enterprise customers.
Timeframe of the Full Delete
Question: What happens if I insert a date in the past or a date in the near future for the Full Delete to take place?
Answer: Should you insert a date that has already passed, the survey will be scheduled for deletion at the first possible opportunity. If you set yesterday’s, or today’s date for the Full delete in the Survey Settings it will be scheduled for full deletion at midnight 23:59 CEST. Nothing will be deleted immediately.
If you insert a date only a week from now, but the survey end date is two weeks from now, the survey deletion will be performed at the scheduled date for deletion. It will be deleted before the end date of the survey.
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