We were recently commissioned to translate from English into French a data retention schedule, an essential tool for ensuring a French company’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
A Central Document Governance Tool
The schedule aimed to:
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inventory all collected documents (data collection),
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specify whether they were originals or copies,
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indicate their storage medium (paper or digital),
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and above all, determine:
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the legal retention period,
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its starting point,
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and the legal basis (e.g., contract, statutory obligation, legitimate interest, etc.).
Some retention periods were set by law, while others were calculated by applying a precautionary rule in regard to statutes of limitation. Handling personal data calls for the same terminological precision seen in the consent-to-use-data clauses of a software licence.
A Living Document, Adapted by Department or Activity
The schedule was structured by department or business area, and specified in particular:
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the date of request for client files,
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the end of the event concerned for claims or incidents,
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or the termination/expiration of the contract as the starting point.
📌 Key Contextual Translations
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legal retention period → durée de conservation légale
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starting point → point de départ
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precautionary rule in regard to statutes of limitation → principe de précaution au regard des règles sur la prescription
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data collection → collecte des données
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date of request → date de la demande
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end of the event concerned → fin de l’événement en question
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term/termination of the contract → résiliation ou expiration du contrat
❓ FAQ: translating a GDPR data retention schedule
What is a data retention schedule?
It is a document governance tool central to GDPR compliance. It inventories the documents a company collects, records their storage medium, and above all sets the legal retention period for each category of records.
Which elements required precise rendering into French?
The legal retention period (durée de conservation légale), its starting point (point de départ) and the legal basis — contract, statutory obligation or legitimate interest. Each category of documents followed its own rule, some statutory and some calculated.
How were the starting points of retention defined?
By activity: the date of request for client files, the end of the event concerned for claims or incidents, and the termination or expiration of the contract elsewhere, each mapped to its French equivalent in the schedule.
