Data Retention
Version 1.1 • Last updated 21 September 2026
1. General principle
HIA keeps personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is processed, to provide and secure the service, administer accounts and subscriptions, resolve support issues or disputes, establish or defend legal claims and comply with applicable legal obligations. Different categories of information may therefore have different retention periods.
2. Active accounts
Account, team, player and match information may remain stored while the relevant account or organisation uses HIA and the information is required to provide the service. Users and organisations remain responsible for reviewing whether third-party information they enter continues to be necessary for their purposes.
3. Inactive, expired or suspended accounts
Information associated with an inactive, expired or suspended account may be retained for a reasonable period where necessary for account restoration, security, fraud prevention, billing administration, investigation, dispute resolution or legal compliance. HIA will not retain personal information indefinitely merely because an account has become inactive.
4. Account deletion requests
After a valid account deletion request, HIA will begin the deletion process without undue delay. Personal information under HIA’s control is intended to be deleted or irreversibly anonymised from active HIA systems within a maximum of 30 days, unless retention is required by law, necessary to establish or defend legal claims, required for security or fraud investigation, or temporarily unavoidable because of a restricted backup or provider recovery cycle.
5. Customer-controlled player and match data
Where HIA processes player, staff, team or match personal data on behalf of a coach, club or other organisation acting as controller, deletion and return are also governed by the controller’s documented instructions and the HIA Data Processing Agreement. On termination of the relevant service, HIA will delete or return such personal data as required by the DPA and applicable law, subject to lawful retention and technical backup limitations.
6. Subscription, transaction and legal records
Certain subscription, transaction, invoice, tax, accounting, contractual or legal records may need to be retained for periods required by Portuguese or European Union law, even after an account is closed. HIA will limit retained information to what is necessary for those obligations. Payment providers may retain transaction information under their own legal obligations and retention policies.
7. Security logs and support records
Security, authentication, diagnostic and support records may be retained for a limited period appropriate to their purpose, including detecting abuse, investigating incidents, troubleshooting faults and protecting legal rights. Where a record is relevant to an active security incident, dispute or legal claim, it may be retained for the duration reasonably necessary to resolve that matter.
8. Backups and provider recovery systems
Residual copies may remain temporarily in protected backups, disaster-recovery systems or infrastructure-provider recovery cycles after information has been deleted from active systems. Such copies are not intended for ordinary use and will be removed, overwritten or rendered inaccessible according to the relevant technical cycle.
9. Legal acceptance records
Records showing acceptance of Terms of Use, subscription terms, a Data Processing Agreement or acknowledgement of a Privacy Policy may be retained where reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance, establish the contractual relationship or resolve a dispute.
10. Anonymised information
Information that has been effectively and irreversibly anonymised so that it no longer relates to an identifiable individual may be retained for research, statistics, benchmarking, service improvement or other lawful purposes. Pseudonymised information remains personal data and is subject to applicable retention requirements.
11. Retention reviews
HIA may periodically review stored information and technical retention practices as the service develops. Retention periods may be adjusted where necessary to reflect legal obligations, security needs, provider capabilities and data minimisation principles.
12. Contact
Questions about retention or deletion may be sent to handballinanalysis@gmail.com.