Last updated: October 30th 2025

Data Retention Policy

Understanding Your Data Lifecycle

This policy explains how long we retain your projects, what happens to unpurchased content, and how our preview system works to ensure fair access for all users.

1. Overview

Plinth provides a subscription-based 3D reconstruction service with a credit system. This policy explains our data retention practices, including how long we store your projects and what happens to processed content.

Key Principle: We balance user data preservation with fair resource allocation. Processed projects start as temporary previews and can be permanently saved through purchase.

2. How Credits Work

Understanding our credit system is essential to understanding data retention:

Monthly Credits: Subscribers receive credits each billing cycle.
Preview Access: Starting a project requires that you have at least one available credit, but that credit is not deducted during processing or the preview window.
Preview Period: Processed projects start as 30-day previews.
Making Projects Permanent: A credit is consumed only when you purchase a project to keep it permanently.
Credit Expiration: Unused credits do not roll over to the next billing period.

3. Project Lifecycle & Retention Periods

Preview Projects

Processed But Not Purchased

Retention Period: 30 days from processing completion

What This Means: When you start processing a project (while having at least one available credit), you get a 30-day preview period to:

View and evaluate the 3D reconstruction results
Download the processed content
Decide if you want to keep it permanently
Make any necessary adjustments

What Happens After 30 Days: If not purchased, the project and all associated data will be automatically deleted to free up storage resources, and no credit is deducted.

⚠️ Important: We send reminders on Day 23 (7 days remaining) and Day 28 (2 days remaining) before deletion. Download or purchase your content before it expires if you want to keep a copy.

Purchased Projects

Permanently Saved Content

Retention Period: Kept indefinitely while your account is active

What This Means: When you purchase a project, it becomes permanent and will not be deleted due to inactivity.

Unlimited access to your purchased projects
No expiration dates
Survives subscription cancellations (with grace period)
Can be deleted manually by you at any time

✓ Recommended: Purchase your best projects to keep them permanently. This allows you to use new credits for new content while preserving your valuable work.

Free Tier Users

Trial & Evaluation

Retention Period: 14 days from project creation

Project Limit: Maximum 3 unpurchased projects at any time

What This Means: Free tier users get a shorter preview period to evaluate the service:

Process up to 3 projects simultaneously
14-day preview period per project
Notifications at Day 7 (in-app + email) and Day 12 (push)
Upgrade to Standard to extend retention and increase limits

After Subscription Cancellation

Grace Period for Cancelled Users

Retention Period: 3 months after last subscription activity

What This Means: If you cancel your subscription, we provide a generous grace period:

All projects (purchased and unpurchased) retained for 3 months
Time to reactivate subscription if desired
Ability to export/download your content
Notifications at Day 75 (email), Day 83 (email + push), and Day 89 (push) before deletion

⚠️ Final Deletion: After 3 months of subscription inactivity, all projects will be permanently deleted. Reactivate your subscription before the deadline to preserve your projects.

4. Retention Period Summary

Account Type	Project Status	Retention Period	Warnings
Free Tier	Unpurchased project	14 days	Day 7, Day 12
Active Subscription	Preview project (unpurchased)	30 days	Day 23, Day 28
Active Subscription	Purchased project	Indefinite	None
Cancelled Subscription	All projects	3 months	Day 75, Day 83, Day 89
Inactive Account	Purchased projects (12+ months old)	Archived to cold storage	None (data preserved)

5. Business Rationale

Our data retention policy is designed with several important goals:

5.1 Fair Resource Distribution

The preview system ensures that:

Processing capacity is available for active users
Storage costs remain sustainable
New users can access the platform without long wait times
Credits rotate fairly across all subscribers

5.2 Encouraging Curation

The 30-day preview period encourages users to:

Evaluate which projects are worth keeping permanently
Maintain a curated collection of their best work
Re-process projects with improved techniques if needed
Make intentional decisions about storage usage

5.3 Preventing Credit Hoarding

Time-limited previews prevent users from:

Processing unlimited projects without purchasing
Accumulating excessive storage without appropriate cost
Monopolizing shared processing resources

6. Notification System

We provide multiple notifications before any content is deleted:

6.1 In-App Notifications

Visual badges showing days until expiration
Banner alerts when accessing expiring projects
Dashboard warnings for projects approaching deletion

6.2 Push Notifications

Mobile alerts at key warning milestones
Grouped notifications for multiple expiring projects
Final reminders before deletion

6.3 Email Notifications

Detailed emails for subscription cancellations
Summary emails for projects approaching expiration
Final warning emails with action links

7. Data Deletion Process

When a project is deleted, we permanently remove:

Original photos: All uploaded source images
Processed models: Generated 3D reconstructions and point clouds
Metadata: Project settings, camera parameters, and processing logs
Derived content: Thumbnails, preview images, and cached data

⚠️ Deletion is Permanent: Once deleted, projects cannot be recovered. We do not maintain backups of deleted preview projects. Download any content you want to keep before the expiration date.

8. Data We Always Retain

For legal and operational purposes, we retain certain data regardless of project deletion:

Transaction records: 7 years (tax and financial compliance)
Credit usage history: For billing and support purposes
Account information: Until account closure
Audit logs: For security and fraud prevention (90 days)

9. Archival for Long-Term Storage

For purchased projects that haven't been accessed in over 12 months:

Automatic archival: Moved to cold storage (lower-cost tier)
Data preservation: All content remains intact and accessible
Retrieval time: May take several hours to restore from archive
No deletion: Archived projects are never automatically deleted

10. Your Rights & Options

10.1 Downloading Your Data

You can download your project data at any time during the retention period:

Export 3D models in standard formats
Download original source images
Save project metadata and settings

10.2 Manual Deletion

You can manually delete projects at any time:

Immediate permanent deletion of selected projects
Frees up storage space
No recovery option once deleted

10.3 Reactivating Subscriptions

If your subscription has been cancelled:

Reactivate within 3 months to preserve all projects
All projects (purchased and unpurchased) will be retained
Continue where you left off

11. Transparency & Disclosure

We are committed to transparency about our retention policies:

This policy is prominently linked in subscription purchase flows
In-app disclosures appear before processing projects
Visual countdown timers show remaining preview days
Customer support can clarify any questions

12. Apple App Store Compliance

This retention policy complies with Apple App Store guidelines by:

Clearly disclosing temporary nature of preview projects
Providing adequate notice before content deletion
Offering reasonable retention periods
Documenting business rationale for time-limited content
Ensuring users can export their data

13. Relationship to Other Policies

This Data Retention Policy should be read in conjunction with:

Privacy Policy: How we collect and use your personal data
Terms of Service: Legal terms governing use of the service
Subscription Terms: Specific terms for paid subscriptions

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Data Retention Policy to:

Reflect changes in retention periods or practices
Comply with legal requirements
Improve clarity and transparency

Material changes will be communicated through:

In-app notifications
Email announcements
Updated policy posted on our website

15. Questions & Support

Need Help?

If you have questions about data retention or need assistance:

Plinth B.V.
Email: support@plinth.it
Data Protection: privacy@plinth.it
Website: plinth.it

Remember: The 30-day preview period gives you plenty of time to evaluate your projects and decide what to keep. Purchase your best work to save it permanently, and let the rest rotate through to make room for new creativity!