IT Connect

Information technology tools and resources at the UW

Mailman Data Retention Policy

Examples of items that can be created and/or stored.
  • NetID
  • Email address
  • Email messages and attachments
  • Name (optional)
  • Application/transaction logs
What happens if an item is manually deleted?

Mailing lists deleted by their owners will be deleted immediately. Note that an owner who has lists with archives of 500 MB or larger will be asked to reduce their size via deletion or removing attachments.
Does anything ever get automatically deleted?
  • A list is automatically deleted if 1) it hasn’t been used in two years and 2) the owner has not responded to notifications to keep it active.
  • Class lists are retained for three quarters; at the beginning of each quarter, class lists from the same quarter in the prior year will be deleted.
  • Lists that are never used will be deleted when they are at least one year old and the owner has not responded to notifications to keep it active.
If a user is no longer authorized to use Mailman what happens to their profile data and items they’ve created?

Mailman does not store a user’s profile data, so it cannot be deleted.

Mailman lists created by a user will persist as long as it has at least one owner who is affiliated with the UW.

A user’s mailing list posts and responses will persist as long as a list is active and the owner has chosen to maintain it in an archive.
Is it possible to restore deleted items?

A list is kept on backup tape for a year after it is deleted. Restoration is possible within this timeframe by sending a request to help@uw.edu.