Google Vault export and retention support

The first is legal: a matter is underway, custodians are on hold, and counsel needs the data in a form their review platform accepts. The second is regulatory: a subject access request or a regulator's information notice with a statutory deadline. The third is commercial: the organisation is leaving Google Workspace and needs a defensible archive before licences lapse.

The three look similar in the console and are entirely different in what matters. Legal exports need chain of custody. Subject access requests need aggressive scoping and redaction planning, because over-disclosure is its own breach. Platform exits need completeness above all, because there is no second chance after the tenant closes.

A badly scoped search returns everything, exceeds the export size cap, takes hours, and produces an unusable pile. A well-scoped search is a set of narrow searches, each defensible on its own terms and each documented with the query, the custodian list, the date range and the run timestamp.

We build the search set with counsel or the data protection lead rather than guessing, run each search, record its hit count before exporting, and keep a search log. The log is often more valuable than the data, because it is what demonstrates the process was reasonable.

Retention rules in Vault delete data when they expire. That is their purpose, and it is why a badly configured custom rule is the most dangerous object in a Workspace tenant. A rule scoped to an org unit that later gains accounts will start purging data for those accounts too.

Holds override retention, which is the safety net, but only for the accounts actually on hold. Before any retention change we snapshot the current rule set, list every account in scope, and get written sign-off. It is a fifteen-minute step that prevents an unrecoverable one.

If the export exists because you are leaving, sequence it before licence changes. Vault access depends on licensing, and downgrading seats to save money mid-project can remove the ability to export the data you were trying to preserve.

We run the archive export first, verify it, store it where you have specified, and only then advise on licence reduction. The order costs a little more in overlapping licence fees and removes the possibility of an unrecoverable mistake.