In the past, many of our software services such as Google Drive and Panopto video streaming promised unlimited storage. Over the past several years, some services have begun to implement limits on the amount of data that Swarthmore can store. In response, ITS has started to introduce retention policies and quotas. For example, in Panopto, a video that hasn’t had a single view in three years will be archived. After a further year without a view, the video will be deleted.

We are also looking at the data ITS keeps and when we should archive and remove old files, especially those belonging to students or employees no longer with the college. The college may want to keep certain data “forever.” For most cases, there will be a time frame in which it makes more sense to archive or delete unused data. As all of us deal with an increasing volume of digital content, doing some cleanup may be helpful to make sure we can find important information when we need it.

Watch for future announcements about how ITS is handling data. There will be plenty of warning before any changes. We’re also interested in hearing from you with concerns or ideas about how to handle the data limits being imposed on the college.