Retention periods after dissolving a business – Forgotten files in “lost places”

Unoccupied buildings, which are also known as “lost places,” have attracted a great deal of attention for years. Buildings, which were once full of life and bustling places, are now abandoned. Videos, in which “urban explorers” explore vacated locations and properties, attract high numbers of clicks on the Internet. From the point of view of data privacy law, it is dangerous if sensitive documents, like patients’ or human resources files, are still located in these buildings. Exploring “lost places” may often be against the law, but this does not prevent people from visiting these mysterious sites. If it is then possible to find files and documents from the previous business operations at the site, a perfect data privacy scandal has been created. Who wants to have their own, sensitive data freely circulating and accessible to anybody?   

“Lost places” tell stories, but what happens to the documents and files if a corporation or an office is dissolved? And what do those responsible for data have to consider when retaining documents after liquidation so that they do not face the risk of consequences and a data privacy scandal?  

Retention periods after dissolving a business – What corporations should know

There are retention periods that are regulated by the law when it comes to retaining files in Germany. The principle governing the length of the retention periods is basically as follows: Documents and paperwork should only be filed for as long as this is necessary for the purpose for which the information was gathered. Summaries provide an overview of the relevant retention periods. They are regularly updated if, for example, statutory regulations change. It is generally important, for instance, to retain all the documents that are relevant for taxes. They must be legible and available during the entire retention period. It is also necessary to note that retention periods for corporations in other countries may be different from the regulations that apply in Germany.   

Retention periods are essential for several reasons:

• Transparency & traceability: Retention periods after dissolving a business continue to play a central role for transparency and traceability. The availability and controllability of the information are guaranteed through compliance.  
• Tax purposes: Corporations often have to store tax-related documents for several years so as to be able to present them during tax inspections or enquiries made by tax authorities.  
• Evidence of business operations: Contracts, invoices and other important documents need to be stored in order to be able to provide evidence of business processes and transactions.  

Once any retention periods have expired, corporations should destroy or delete documents and paperwork, provided that their intended purpose is no longer relevant – for example, as a result of statutory regulations. It is important that the destruction of documents, particularly those that contain any personal data, takes place properly in line with the latest data privacy regulations.  

Challenges for corporations in complying with retention periods

Corporations should keep their eye on the entire contents of their archives in order to regularly gain new space through destroying old documents and so that they are able to act in a lawful manner and in line with the regulations, even after the liquidation of the business.   

They therefore face the challenge of storing files for a long period and thereby complying with retention periods, even after the business has been dissolved. A lack of storage space or high security requirements for items like certificates are significant hurdles to overcome in this field. The secure storage of documents should be a major priority for every corporation in each case (even after liquidation), because the loss of important documents can create legalconsequences for corporations.  

Benefits of collaborating with specialist archive and destruction service providers

Outsourcing archiving and destruction services can offer corporations many different kinds of value added, even if it might initially be a daunting prospect to hand over the data that you are responsible for.  

By collaborating with specialist archiving and destruction service providers, corporations benefit from a profound understanding of the statutory requirements and standards. Thanks to their extensive knowledge and experience, the specialists handle documents containing personal data and still manage to comply with data privacy laws and retention periods, even after a business has been dissolved. If using external storage, high-security archives with the appropriate certifications offer a special degree of protection. Professional access concepts can also safeguard controlled retrieval and access.   

This not only offers corporations security as regards the correct handling of documents and compliance with the retention periods for firms. Tried and tested processes for archiving and destruction in line with data privacy regulations also save the corporations, which commission these services, costs and expenditure. 

Summary: From “lost places” to secure retention

Compliance with retention periods after dissolving a business is extremely important in order to avoid any liability risks and the danger of any loss of image. If corporations arrange clean processes for putting items into storage and destruction, they guarantee that all the necessary evidence continues to be available for any tax inspections or legal disputes. Archiving and destruction service providers like Rhenus can be helpful to ensure that document archiving and destruction take place according to the data privacy laws. Thanks to their professional support, organizing the retention of business documents during and after any closure of the corporation is no longer a problem. This is the best precautionary measure to prevent “lost places” adventurers from possibly discovering or even leaking sensitive data at some stage.