Data Controls

Manage retention, privacy, compliance, and analysis settings for your behavioral data

Data Controls Overview

Data Controls provide granular management over how BIE processes, stores, and analyzes your community's behavioral data. Configure retention policies, privacy settings, compliance options, and analysis parameters to match your needs.

Retention Management

Configure auto-purge policies, manual deletion, and data lifecycle

Privacy & Compliance

GDPR/CCPA settings, data subject rights, audit logging

Exclusions

Exclude channels, members, or activity types from analysis

Data Export

Export datasets for archival, analysis, or compliance

Retention Settings

Configure how long BIE retains detailed behavioral data. Balance between analysis depth and data storage needs.

Retention Duration Options

30 days

Short-term monitoring

Ideal for active moderation, recent trend tracking, minimal storage use

90 days

Quarterly analysis

Good balance for quarterly reviews, seasonal pattern detection

180 days

Half-year retention

Extended trend analysis, seasonal comparison, reasonable storage

1 year

Annual patterns

Full year-over-year analysis, comprehensive trend identification

2 years

Maximum retention

Long-term research, multi-year trend tracking, higher storage requirements

Retention Data Types

Detailed Hourly Data

Activity counts, timestamps, and patterns by hour. Subject to retention policy and auto-purges after expiration.

Daily Aggregations

Rolled-up daily summaries. Retained longer than hourly data to enable multi-month trend analysis.

Weekly & Monthly Summaries

Long-term trend aggregations retained indefinitely (unless manually purged) for historical reference.

Incident Records

Incident logs and resolutions retained per incident policy (typically longer than raw data).

Choose Retention for Your Needs

90 days is good for active communities with weekly/monthly reviews. 1 year enables seasonal comparison and annual reporting. 2 years is ideal for research-focused communities.

Manual Data Purge

Delete specific data before the retention period expires. Useful for removing sensitive periods or correcting analysis errors.

1

Access Data Controls

Navigate to BIE Dashboard → Settings → Data Controls → Manual Purge

2

Select Data Scope

Choose what to purge:

  • • Date range (specific day, week, or month)
  • • Specific channel(s)
  • • Specific member(s)
  • • Specific incident(s)
  • • Combination of the above
3

Review Scope

Review what will be deleted. The system shows estimated data size and affected records count.

4

Confirm Purge

Confirm deletion with a security prompt. Purges are irreversible, so ensure you've reviewed the scope.

5

Monitor Completion

Large purges are queued and processed asynchronously. Monitor progress in the Data Controls dashboard.

Purges Are Irreversible

Deleted data cannot be recovered. Always export or backup critical data before purging. Consider exporting data for compliance or archival before deletion.

GDPR & CCPA Compliance

BIE implements privacy-by-design principles and full compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other international data protection regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Right to Access

Download all your data in machine-readable format through the portal

Right to Rectification

Request corrections to inaccurate data through support

Right to Erasure

Request deletion of personal data with manual purge tools

Right to Restrict

Exclude members/channels from analysis processing

Audit Logs

Complete audit trail of all data access and modifications

CCPA Compliance

Data Access

California residents can request data in portable, machine-readable format

Data Deletion

Request complete deletion of personal information

Opt-Out

Opt out of processing/selling of personal information

Non-Discrimination

No service denial or price difference for exercising rights

Transparency

Clear disclosure of data collection and usage practices

Requesting Data Subject Rights

Users can request data access, correction, or deletion through your server's privacy request form or by contacting your moderators. Document all requests for compliance audit trails.

Channel & Member Exclusions

Exclude specific channels or members from behavioral analysis to focus on relevant community engagement.

Excluding Channels

Remove channels from analysis to avoid noise from automated or administrative activity:

  • →#bot-commands: Automated bot responses inflate activity metrics
  • →#announcements: One-way broadcasts don't reflect engagement
  • →#logging: Automated logging/audit channels create noise
  • →#spam-archive: Deleted/moved messages shouldn't count
  • →Private channels: Staff-only discussions can be excluded

Excluding Members

Remove specific members from analysis to focus on genuine community:

  • →Bots & service accounts: Automated posts shouldn't influence community health metrics
  • →Admin/moderator accounts: Optional: exclude to focus on member activity
  • →Spam accounts: Exclude accounts created specifically to spam
  • →Inactive/deleted members: Don't let former members skew trends

Balance Exclusions

Don't exclude too much data or you'll lose insight into actual community behavior. Exclude only noise sources—preserve genuine community engagement for analysis.

Data Export & Archival

Export behavioral data for external analysis, compliance, or archival purposes.

Export Formats

CSV Format

Tabular data for spreadsheet analysis, easy to import into Excel or Google Sheets

JSON Format

Structured data for programmatic analysis, database imports, or API consumption

Image Export

Heatmap visualizations as PNG/SVG for presentations and reports

PDF Report

Formatted report with charts, summaries, and analysis for stakeholders

Export Scope Options

  • →Date range: Specific days, weeks, or months
  • →Channels: All channels or specific channels only
  • →Data types: Messages, voice, reactions, memberships, or all
  • →Granularity: Hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly aggregation

Data Sensitivity

Exported data should be handled securely. Don't share raw exports publicly. If exporting for compliance, ensure recipients are authorized to access behavioral data.

Analysis Granularity

Configure the time resolution at which BIE analyzes and aggregates behavioral data.

Hourly Granularity

Finest resolution: activity analyzed and recorded per hour

✓Best for: Real-time incident detection, peak time identification, heatmap generation
✗Trade-off: Highest storage requirements, longer processing times

Daily Granularity

Activity aggregated and analyzed per day

✓Best for: Weekly/monthly reporting, seasonal trends, balanced detail and efficiency
✗Trade-off: Loses intra-day pattern details, may miss brief spikes

Weekly Granularity

Activity aggregated per week

✓Best for: Long-term trend analysis, minimal storage, high-level reporting
✗Trade-off: Loses detailed patterns, less useful for active incident response

Monthly Granularity

Activity aggregated per month

✓Best for: Annual reports, minimal storage, strategic planning
✗Trade-off: Extreme loss of detail, not suitable for anomaly detection

Hybrid Granularity

BIE supports hybrid approaches: maintain hourly data for 30 days (incident detection), then roll to daily for 6 months, then monthly indefinitely. Configure per your needs.

Data Controls Best Practices

Regular Audits

Review your data retention and exclusion settings quarterly to ensure they align with current community needs.

Compliance Documentation

Keep records of data subject requests, purges, and exclusion changes for compliance audit trails.

Export for Archival

Periodically export data before retention expiry if you need historical records beyond your retention period.

Minimize False Positives

Exclude bot channels and automated accounts to reduce noise in analysis and improve incident detection accuracy.

Balance Detail vs. Storage

Hourly data is most detailed but storage-intensive. Choose granularity based on your monitoring needs and resources.

Communicate Policies

Share your data retention and privacy policies with community members. Transparency builds trust and aids compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can I retain behavioral data?
BIE supports retention periods from 30 days to 2 years. Choose based on your analysis needs and compliance requirements. Longer retention enables better trend analysis but requires more storage.
What happens when retention period expires?
Data automatically purges based on your retention policy. Aggregated statistics and trends are preserved, but detailed hourly data is deleted. You can download/export data before it purges.
Can I manually delete data before the retention period expires?
Yes. You can manually purge data for specific time ranges, channels, or members at any time. Manual purges are useful for removing sensitive data or correcting analysis periods.
Is my data GDPR compliant?
Yes. BIE is fully GDPR compliant. You can exercise data subject rights (access, rectification, erasure) through the data controls. EU members have automatic GDPR protections.
What about CCPA compliance for California users?
Full CCPA compliance is built in. California residents can request data access, deletion, and opt-out of processing through our data portal integrated with BIE settings.
Can I exclude specific channels or members from analysis?
Yes. You can exclude channels (like #bots or #automated) and specific members from behavioral analysis. Exclusions are useful for focusing on genuine community engagement.
What granularities are available for data analysis?
BIE supports hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly granularities. Hourly data provides detailed patterns but uses more storage. Monthly aggregations are space-efficient for long-term trends.
Can I export my behavioral data?
Yes. You can export data as CSV or JSON for external analysis, archival, or stakeholder reporting. Exports respect your privacy settings and exclusions.
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