--- title: "Data Retention | Fairhelm Legal" description: "Who is responsible for retaining institutional data, what determines how long records are kept, and what happens to data before, during and after a SquareCampus contract." canonical: https://legal.fairhelmsystems.com/squarecampus/data-retention/ describedby: https://legal.fairhelmsystems.com/llms.txt --- Legal center # Data Retention Who is responsible for retaining institutional data, what determines how long records are kept, and what happens to data before, during and after a SquareCampus contract. ## Records outlive the people who made them. A transfer certificate is requested a decade after a student leaves. An inspector asks for last year's answer sheets. An auditor asks about a fee concession granted years ago. A parent asks the school to erase their child's data, and the school has to decide whether it can. Each of these questions lands on the institution, not on its software vendor. The institution must keep what the law requires, erase what it no longer needs, and be able to show which is which. That makes retention a governance decision rather than a storage setting, and it belongs in writing before an institution signs with any vendor, including us. ## Our position We will not tell you that software makes an institution compliant. What we can do is be exact about what exists today and what does not. The institution owns its records. SquareCampus processes institutional data on the institution's documented instructions, under the Data Processing Addendum. Retention deadlines, preservation holds that block erasure, and consent withdrawal are being built into the platform's data layer. None of them is available for institutional data yet, and this page will say when that changes. Exit terms — what is returned, in what form, when, and what is deleted — are agreed in writing rather than left to goodwill. ## Where things stand ### Confirmed today - The institution is the Data Fiduciary for its records; SquareCampus processes them on its instructions under the Data Processing Addendum. - Contract-end return, deletion and anonymisation follow the Data Processing Addendum. - Export scope, formats, timing and charges are agreed in the order form. - Website enquiries are stored, passed to our customer-relationship system and notified to our team by email. - Preservation and data requests are made in writing to the contacts on this page and assessed individually. ### Awaiting confirmation - A reviewed retention schedule for institutional records. - A retention period for website enquiries and their copies. - Retention deadlines, preservation holds and consent withdrawal as product capabilities for institutional data. - Self-service institution-wide export. ## Who is responsible for what For the records an institution keeps in SquareCampus — students, guardians, staff, admissions, attendance, examinations, fees — the institution decides why and how the data is processed and for how long it is kept. In the language of the DPDP Act, the institution is the Data Fiduciary. Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited processes that data on the institution's documented instructions, as its Data Processor, under the Data Processing Addendum. For its own website and business records — including enquiries submitted through this website — Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited is the Data Fiduciary. SquareCampus™ is a trademark (registration pending) of Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited. All services are provided by Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited, unless otherwise stated in a written agreement or order form. References to "SquareCampus" in this page mean Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited. FAIRHELM SYSTEMS (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED Registered office: No. 33, 4th Floor, 1st Main, Road 3, Ganganagar, R T Nagar, Bangalore North, Bangalore – 560032, Karnataka, India CIN: U62099KA2026OPC225579 · Incorporated in India on 5 August 2026 under the Companies Act, 2013 · One Person Company GSTIN: 29AAHCF1819L1ZA · Registered under the Goods and Services Tax, Karnataka Email: [contact@squarecampus.com](mailto:contact@squarecampus.com) ## How retention is determined How long a record must be kept depends on the kind of record, the board the school is affiliated to, the state it operates in, and the institution's legal form and tax status. Requirements can attach to admission and withdrawal registers, attendance records, examination and assessment records, staff records and books of account, among others. Board and statutory sources differ in what they cover. The CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws, for example, list records an affiliated school is to maintain, while the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the DPDP Rules, 2025 govern the processing of personal data. More than one obligation can apply to the same record, and they do not rank themselves. When one purpose ends, another obligation may still require the record to be kept. A statutory requirement to preserve a record is separate from the storage in a subscription. Your plan does not determine your legal retention obligations: storage and archive arrangements are commercial terms, specified in your proposal and order form, and they neither shorten nor extend what the law requires. ## Reviewed retention schedule We have not yet published a reviewed retention schedule. Applicable retention requirements depend on the institution and the records concerned. ## Purpose, consent and preservation The end of a purpose, the withdrawal of consent and a duty to preserve a record are separate questions. Whether a record may be erased depends on whether any law or other obligation still requires it to be kept. The end of one obligation does not by itself permit deletion while another still applies, and the absence of a known period is never permission to erase. For institutional records these are the institution's decisions; SquareCampus acts on its documented instructions. ## Preservation requests An authorised contact at an institution can ask us in writing to preserve specified records — for example because of litigation, an inspection or a regulator's request. Write to support@squarecampus.com, identify the records and the reason, and say who is authorising the request. We assess each request against the institution's agreement, the instructions we hold and applicable requirements, and reply in writing. SquareCampus does not offer a self-service preservation control, and a request is not in effect until we have confirmed it. ## Contract end, export and deletion The Data Processing Addendum sets what happens when a subscription ends or on written request: SquareCampus deletes or anonymises personal data processed on the institution's behalf, or returns it in a reasonable format where export functionality is agreed. It may retain data where required by law, for dispute resolution or for backup purposes, after which the data is deleted or anonymised. See [section 11 of the Data Processing Addendum](https://legal.fairhelmsystems.com/squarecampus/data-processing-addendum/#retention). Export scope, available formats, timing, responsibilities and any charges are agreed in the order form. We do not publish a standard export format or turnaround time, and an institution-wide export is not a self-service feature today. Ending a contract, changing plan or exceeding a storage allowance does not change what the law requires an institution to keep. ## Backups and other copies Backups exist to recover from failure, not to keep records for longer. Data deleted from live systems can remain in backups until those backups expire on their cycle. Backup retention periods are documented in writing during security review rather than published on this page. ## Enquiries submitted through this website When you submit the demo or contact form, we store the details you enter together with your IP address and browser details, pass the enquiry to our customer-relationship system, and notify our team by email. Records used to limit abuse of the form are set to expire automatically. A retention period for website enquiries, and for their copies in our customer-relationship system, email and logs, has not yet been set. Requests concerning personal data submitted through this website may be sent to privacy@squarecampus.com. We assess each request against applicable requirements and any continuing need to retain the information. ## Making a request **Students, parents, guardians and staff** Your institution decides how your records are kept. Raise requests about them with the institution first; we support it as its Data Processor. **Institutions** Requests about institutional data, exports and preservation go to support@squarecampus.com. **Website enquiries** Requests about personal data submitted through this website go to the Grievance Officer, Fairhelm Systems (OPC) Private Limited, at privacy@squarecampus.com. ## Source references Official sources relevant to retention for schools in India, listed for reference. Listing a source here is not a statement of how it applies to any institution. 1. [Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2024/06/2bf1f0e9f04e6fb4f8fef35e82c42aa5.pdf) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology · meity.gov.in The Act governing the processing of digital personal data in India. Source checked 28 September 2026 2. [Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/11/53450e6e5dc0bfa85ebd78686cadad39.pdf) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology · G.S.R. 846(E) · meity.gov.in Rules made under the Act, including provisions on retention and erasure. Different rules come into force on different dates. Source checked 28 September 2026 3. [CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018 — Chapter 14](https://www.cbse.gov.in/cbsenew/affbye//Chapter%2014.pdf) Central Board of Secondary Education · cbse.gov.in Conditions for CBSE-affiliated schools, including the records and documents a school is to maintain. Source checked 28 September 2026 This page explains SquareCampus’s approach to data retention and the arrangements described here. It is not legal advice. Institutions should confirm their obligations with their own advisors.