TradeGroove Data Retention and Deletion Policy

Last updated: June 26, 2026
Effective date: June 26, 2026

This policy explains how TradeGroove may retain and delete account, listing, message, safety, purchase, and technical records. It supplements the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Retention periods must be implemented in the actual production systems before this policy is published.

1. General Principles

TradeGroove keeps information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Provide and improve the Service.
• Maintain accounts, listings, messages, matches, trades, ratings, and purchases.
• Moderate content and enforce policies.
• Investigate fraud, scams, abuse, safety reports, prohibited items, disputes, and security incidents.
• Comply with law, tax, accounting, app-store, payment-provider, audit, and legal obligations.
• Defend legal claims and preserve business records.

We may retain deidentified, aggregated, or anonymized information without a specific time limit where it no longer reasonably identifies a user.

2. Standard Retention Targets

These targets should be confirmed with counsel and implemented technically:

| Record type | Draft retention target |
| --- | --- |
| Account profile and verification records | Life of account plus up to 3 years after deletion request, unless longer retention is needed |
| Public listings and listing photos | Life of listing plus up to 2 years after deletion or expiration |
| Deleted listing storage paths and photo variants | Delete from active storage within a commercially reasonable period, with backup deletion on backup rotation |
| Messages | Life of account or match plus up to 3 years, longer if tied to safety, fraud, dispute, or legal records |
| Ratings and completed-trade records | Life of account plus up to 5 years for marketplace integrity and dispute handling |
| Safety reports, blocks, moderation queue, and enforcement actions | Up to 7 years or longer if needed for safety, repeat-abuse prevention, legal claims, or law enforcement |
| Purchases, subscriptions, refunds, chargebacks, credits, and promotions | At least 7 years where needed for tax, accounting, app-store, payment, fraud, or audit obligations |
| Analytics and event logs | Up to 26 months in identifiable form where practical, then aggregate or delete unless needed |
| Security, app integrity, and abuse-prevention logs | Up to 2 years, longer if tied to investigations or legal holds |
| Support communications | Up to 5 years after the issue closes |
| Backups | Deleted or overwritten on normal backup rotation, targeted at 30 to 180 days unless legally preserved |

3. Account Deletion

When you request account deletion, TradeGroove may:

• Verify your identity or account control.
• Disable or delete your account profile.
• Remove or anonymize public profile fields where practical.
• Remove active listings where practical.
• Retain information needed for safety, fraud prevention, legal compliance, accounting, tax, app-store, payment-provider, dispute, moderation, or enforcement purposes.
• Retain information created by or involving other users, such as their messages, reports, ratings, or trade records.

Deleting your account may not cancel app-store subscriptions. You must cancel subscriptions through the relevant app store or payment provider.

4. Listing and Photo Deletion

You may be able to delete listings and uploaded photos in the app. TradeGroove may retain copies or metadata where needed for:

• Completed trade records.
• Safety investigations.
• Prohibited-item enforcement.
• Counterfeit, stolen-item, recall, fraud, or legal reports.
• Backup rotation.
• App-store, tax, accounting, or legal compliance.

5. Messages, Reports, and Ratings

Messages, reports, blocks, ratings, and reviews may involve multiple users. TradeGroove may retain these records even after one user deletes an account if needed to preserve context, protect other users, investigate abuse, enforce policies, or comply with law.

6. Legal Holds and Safety Preservation

TradeGroove may suspend deletion, preserve information, or retain records longer when we reasonably believe the information may relate to:

• Legal process, litigation, regulatory inquiry, law enforcement request, or user dispute.
• Fraud, scams, threats, harassment, exploitation, violence, stolen goods, counterfeit goods, prohibited items, or other safety concerns.
• Tax, accounting, app-store, payment-provider, audit, or compliance obligations.

7. How to Request Deletion

Send deletion or privacy requests to privacy@tradegroove.app. Include the email or phone number associated with your account and the request you want us to process. Do not send passwords, full payment-card numbers, or verification codes.

We will respond within the time required by applicable law. If we deny all or part of a request, we will explain where required and provide appeal instructions where applicable.