Data protection overview & DPA

The Data protection module controls which version of project and session data may be used. It combines a binding tenant policy, the protection level of each project or session, and an auditable workflow for changes and recovery.

When the module is disabled for a tenant, the shield menu and privacy administration are hidden. Disabling it never turns protected data back into original data.

If Data protection is not visible for your organization, contact your StoryVault representative.

What is a DPA?

In StoryVault, DPA is the tenant-specific Data protection capability It allows an assigned person to plan, approve, monitor, and – where still possible – reverse privacy operations.

The capability applies only to the selected tenant membership. Administrators do not receive it automatically. StoryVault support can inspect safe diagnostic information when an operation fails, but cannot re-identify protected content or restore originals.

Responsibilities

Task	Tenant admin	DPA
Assign a DPA in the current tenant	Yes	Only with an admin role
Manage tenant policy	No	Yes
Raise a protection level	No	Yes
Restore original data	No	Yes, with security confirmation
View safe error and recovery metadata	Limited	Yes

Assign a DPA

Open Admin → Users and select the person.
Confirm that the person has an active membership in the correct tenant.
Enable Data protection on that tenant membership and save.
Switch to that tenant before opening the shield menu or privacy administration.

If no active DPA is assigned, manual privacy operations remain disabled and administrators receive a link to the user administration. Automatic operations that only increase protection may continue.

Configure tenant policy

The Data protection administration page contains the active tenant policy, operation status, legal holds, recovery material, and the tenant-scoped access log.

Setting	Effect
Policy template	Supplies a comprehensible starting configuration.
Tenant data access limit	Most exposed variant the tenant may use, such as original or permanently anonymized.
Original media handling	Store originals, quarantine them, or delete them after a retention period.
Retention days	Time during which protected originals remain recoverable. Empty means no fixed deadline.
Automatically apply to imports	New uploads, imports, and bot sessions are moved to the tenant’s required level.
Export / share original media	Available only while the tenant policy permits original data.

Templates are starting points. Review every field before activation:

Standard: Original data remains permitted.
Strict privacy: Identifying data is removed, original media is protected, and new imports are adjusted automatically.
Remove identifying data by default: New content is processed without identifying data.
Permanently anonymized workspace: Content is permanently anonymized and recovery material is destroyed after the configured period.

Anonymize sessions after a set period

A DPA can enable Automatic anonymization in the tenant policy and set a Period in days. The period starts on the recording date; if absent, the session’s creation or import date is used.

When enabled or shortened, already existing sessions that are due are collected in a draft plan. Review and explicitly approve that plan. Sessions that become due later are scheduled automatically under the active rule. A legal hold blocks processing.

This permanent-anonymization period is separate from the period during which protected original media remains recoverable. Review both settings before activation.

Legal holds

A legal hold prevents changes and automatic deletion for a selected project or session. It does not expose original data or grant additional access. While a hold is active, anonymization and destruction of pseudonym mappings are blocked.