Features · privacy and retention
Analytics data retention: what is kept, for how long, and who sees it
Analytics data retention you choose, site by site. Full, shortened or no IP addresses, a window for each kind of detail, and one command that deletes a person everywhere.
Analytics data retention is how long an analytics tool keeps each kind of data, and in what form. In Skald the totals are kept for good and never hold an address; the detail behind them (visits with addresses, journeys, leads, events) each has its own window in Settings › Data retention. Part of Skald features.
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- Full address · 203.0.113.57kept as it is
- Shortened · 203.0.113.57 → 203.0.113.0last part removed
- Shortened · 2001:db8:85a3:8d3:: → 2001:db8:85a3::first 48 bits kept
- Don't keep · no addresskept ones deleted at the nightly run
- Totals and every stored daykept for good, no address
Sample addresses from the ranges kept for documentation.
[01] IP addresses
IP addresses: full, shortened or not kept
Keeping visitors' IP addresses is a setting per site, and only owners and admins can change it. A new install keeps the full address, so search and journeys work from the first day. Pick a choice.
what is kept · sample
203.0.113.57
Each visit is kept with its whole IP address, browser, times, pages in order, source, campaign, country and device, for 395 days by default. Owners and admins can find a person and follow every visit of a visitor.
Switching to shortened shortens the addresses already kept at the next nightly run.
Leads' names and emails are a second switch: full keeps a lead's name and email with its conversions, anonymous keeps neither. An install upgraded from before version 2.4.0 keeps neither until you turn them on.
[02] retention windows
A data retention window for each kind of detail
Totals, page milestones and every stored day's figures are kept for good; they are not a setting. The detail behind them has its own windows, and each field says where its value comes from.
The dashboard's All time shows the last 180 days and says where your data begins. Compare reaches up to 12 months.
| What is kept | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Detail days (each visit by its labels, each page's days) | 30 to 3650 days | 400 |
| Anonymous journeys | 1 to 90 days | 7 |
| Returning-visitor matching | 1 to 90 days | 30 |
| In-page events | 30 to 3650 days | 400 |
| Visits with addresses | 1 to 3650 days | 395 |
| Leads and the pages they read | for good, or 1 to 3650 days | 400 |
| Pages of visitors not yet a lead | 1 to 400 days | 30 |
| Daily and weekly backups | 1 to 60 · 0 to 52 copies | 14 · 8 |
[03] leads
Leads kept for good, or for as many days as you choose
The Leads card says how long Skald keeps each lead, with where it came from and the pages its visitor ID read. Kept for good means Skald never deletes them by itself.
Kept for good
Every lead and every stage of it (sent, booked, paid, won, lost), test leads, leads a sync removed, the pages read by a visitor ID that became a lead, names and emails when you keep them, and the raw copy of each hook message, so old days still add up.
Still goes
The log of hook deliveries after 90 days, and the pages of visitors who never became a lead, after the days you set (30 by default). Once a visitor sends a form, their pages stay with the lead.
A person's request still works
Kept for good never blocks a deletion request: the forget command below removes that person everywhere.
[04] keeping less
Keeping less: see what goes before it goes
Making a window shorter removes stored data, so Skald asks first, and shows the cost in rows and days.
Type a smaller number
Or pick days instead of Kept for good, and select Save.
See what will go
The page shows how many rows and days will be removed.
Confirm by name
Type the site's name and select Yes, keep less, or Keep it as it is. Removal happens at the next daily run, not at once.
[05] a deletion request
Delete one person's data with one command
When someone asks you to delete their data, look them up first to see what is kept, then send their address or email to whoever runs your Skald server.
By address, it deletes every visit kept with it, replaces it with "(removed)" in the Requests list and today's AI activity, deletes its returning-visitor codes, and keeps it hidden for 15 days. By email, lead or visitor ID, it deletes their conversions, name, email and visitor ID page views. A private log keeps the counts, never the address.
$ skald forget --ip 203.0.113.57 --dry-run $ skald forget --ip 203.0.113.57 $ skald forget --email person@example.com
Sample address and email. Run it with --dry-run first to see what it would remove.
[06] your privacy notice
Wording for your privacy notice, and where addresses show
Settings › Data retention gives a short text made from this site's own settings, with a Copy button. Fill in the parts in square brackets: your contact for deletion requests, how long your web server keeps its logs.
Person search
Owners and admins, when the site keeps addresses. Every search goes to the audit log as a code, never the value.
Requests
Site › Requests holds the last 6 hours of the request log, with addresses, behind sign-in.
Today's AI activity
On AI & bots › Assistants when the period is today: today only.
Never here
A stored day's totals, a CSV export of history, a mail, or an address in the browser's address bar.
What it does not do
- The privacy notice wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Your notice must match your situation, and some places also need the visitor's consent.
- Deleting a person is done by the server admin with one command, not from the dashboard.
- Backups made before a request still hold what was kept then. They stay on your server and age out on their own (14 daily and 8 weekly copies).
- The raw access log keeps full addresses on your server for 14 days in every choice, until it rotates or the admin scrubs it sooner.
- A shortened address can be several people: everyone on the same network.
- Counting needs no cookie, but signing in to the dashboard uses one session cookie.
keep reading
More on analytics data retention
questions
Analytics data retention FAQ
Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.
Does Skald keep IP addresses?
You choose, per site: the full address, a shortened one with its last part removed, or none. A new install keeps the full address, so owners and admins can find a person and follow a visitor across days. Only owners and admins see addresses, and every search is written to the audit log.
How long does Skald keep data?
Totals and every stored day's figures are kept for good and hold no address. The detail has windows: visits with addresses 395 days, anonymous journeys 7 days, per-visit and per-page detail 400 days, in-page events 400 days, and leads 400 days or for good. Most can be changed in Settings › Data retention. The dashboard's All time shows the last 180 days.
How do I delete one person's data on request?
Send their IP address or email to whoever runs your Skald server. They run skald forget, first with --dry-run to see what it would remove. It deletes the visits kept with that address, their conversions, name, email and visitor ID page views, everywhere Skald keeps them. It is a command on the server, not a dashboard button.
What happens when I keep less?
Skald asks first. After you type a smaller number and save, the page shows how many rows and days will go, and you confirm by typing the site's name. Nothing is removed at once: removal happens at the next daily run.
Does Skald write my privacy notice?
It gives you wording to start from. Settings › Data retention makes a short text from what this site really keeps, with a Copy button, and leaves the parts it cannot know in square brackets. It is a starting point, not legal advice.
Does Skald need cookies?
Not to count visits: it reads the server's log, which needs nothing in the browser. Signing in to the dashboard uses one session cookie. The optional script tag sets a cookie only when visitor IDs are shared across subdomains.
$ tail -f access.log | skald
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