Data Retention¶
The Zaita platform retains operational and audit data to support the security, integrity, and accountability requirements inherent to public key infrastructure and certificate lifecycle management. This page describes the platform's data retention practices and the rationale behind them.
Retention Principle¶
All data processed and stored within the Zaita platform is retained on a permanent basis. This includes certificate records, audit logs, user activity history, PKI configuration changes, and all associated metadata.
This approach reflects the nature of the platform's role as an authoritative system of record for PKI and certificate operations. Certificate authorities, their signing histories, chain-of-trust relationships, and the decisions made throughout the certificate lifecycle form a continuous and interdependent record. Removing or expiring any part of this record would compromise the integrity of the audit trail and the ability to verify trust decisions retrospectively.
Rationale¶
Permanent retention is driven by the following operational and security requirements:
Authoritative Source of Truth¶
The Zaita platform serves as the definitive record for all PKI and certificate lifecycle operations within a customer's environment. Certificate issuance, renewal, revocation, and deployment events form a historical chain that must remain complete and verifiable. Gaps in this record would undermine the ability to establish what was trusted, by whom, and when — information that is essential for both day-to-day operations and long-term governance.
Security Auditing¶
Comprehensive audit trails are a fundamental requirement for security assurance. Retained data enables organisations to:
- Investigate security incidents without time-bound limitations on historical evidence
- Trace the full provenance of any certificate from issuance through to expiration or revocation
- Identify patterns of anomalous behaviour across extended time periods
- Satisfy audit requirements from internal security teams, regulators, and external assessors
Forensic Investigation¶
In the event of a security incident, breach investigation, or compliance inquiry, forensic analysis frequently requires access to historical records that extend well beyond typical short-term retention windows. Permanent retention ensures that investigators have access to the complete operational history of the PKI environment, including:
- Historical certificate authority configurations and policy changes
- The full chain of certificate issuance and signing events
- Authentication and access control changes over time
- Target system deployment records and credential usage history
Compliance and Regulatory Obligations¶
Many regulatory frameworks and industry standards require organisations to maintain audit records for extended or unspecified periods. By retaining data permanently, the Zaita platform enables customers to meet these obligations without the risk of data being purged before a compliance review or legal proceeding requires it.
What Is Retained¶
The following categories of data are subject to permanent retention:
| Data Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Certificate records | All issued, renewed, revoked, and expired certificates, including subject attributes, validity periods, and signing chain details |
| PKI configuration | Root and intermediate certificate authority configurations, policy settings, algorithm selections, and key lifecycle events |
| Audit logs | Timestamped records of all platform operations, including user and machine account authentication, certificate lifecycle actions, and administrative changes |
| User and account records | Account creation, modification, role assignment, and deactivation history |
| Target system records | Deployment configurations, installation history, and credential usage records (credentials themselves remain encrypted and access-controlled as described in the Security documentation) |
| Discovery records | Certificate discovery scan results, monitored domain configurations, and historical certificate inventory data |
Data Protection¶
Retained data is subject to the same encryption, access control, and tenant isolation protections that apply to all data within the platform. Permanent retention does not imply permanent accessibility — access to historical records is governed by the same role-based access control model and audit logging that applies to current operational data. For details on these protections, refer to the Security page.
Customer Data on Account Termination¶
Upon termination of a customer account, Zaita will work with the customer to determine the appropriate handling of retained data. Options include secure export of records for the customer's own archival purposes, continued retention by Zaita under a data custodianship arrangement, or secure destruction in accordance with the customer's instructions and applicable legal requirements.
Regardless of the approach, any data destruction is performed using cryptographic erasure methods consistent with the platform's security standards, ensuring that deleted data is irrecoverable.
Relationship to Privacy Policy¶
The retention of personal information within audit logs and account records is governed by both this data retention policy and the platform's Privacy Policy. Where personal information is retained, it is held in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and used only for the purposes described in the Privacy Policy.