As outlined in our SPARCS Data Governance: Policy and Procedure Manual for Data Release (2022), the data retention period for approved applications is two (2) years after receiving the final calendar year of data. Your approval letter will list the expiration date. The project is closed when the retention period expires, upon project completion and the return of the data, or upon withdrawal of the request. We will request an Affidavit of Data Destruction as the expiration date approaches to ensure that the data is no longer being used.
If addtional time is required to complete the project, the data retention period may be extended for up to one (1) year. All extension requests must be submitted before the expiration of the data lease for SPARCS program review.
Please note that failure to comply with our data lease compliance inquiries will impact your organization's future applications. Additionally, SPARCS will not accept extension requests after a data lease expires.