What is a legal hold?
A legal hold is an instruction to preserve specific data and suspend its normal deletion because it may be relevant to litigation, an investigation or a regulatory inquiry. It has no fixed end date. The data stays until the hold is explicitly released, whatever its ordinary retention would have been.
How does a legal hold differ from a retention period?
Both prevent deletion, but they answer different questions.
| Aspect | Retention period | Legal hold |
|---|---|---|
| Why it exists | Policy or regulation set in advance | A specific legal matter |
| Duration | Fixed, ends on a known date | Open-ended, until released |
| Scope | Whole data sets or backup jobs | Selected data relevant to the matter |
| Who decides | IT and compliance policy | Legal counsel |
| What ends it | The date passes | An explicit release |
How is a legal hold implemented in object storage?
In the S3 Object Lock model, a legal hold is a flag set on an individual object version. While the flag is on, that version cannot be deleted or overwritten. The flag is independent of any retention date on the same object: an object can have a retention period, a legal hold, both or neither, and it remains protected until every applicable control has ended. Setting and removing a hold requires a specific permission, which should be granted to very few accounts.
How does a legal hold apply to backups?
Backups are organized by system and date, while holds are defined by people and subject. Preserving the relevant restore points usually means excluding them from retention processing, exporting them as standalone copies or placing a hold on the objects they consist of, where the backup software supports that. Because incremental restore points depend on earlier ones, holding one date can mean holding a whole backup chain. Legal hold on backups goes through the options.
What are the risks of a legal hold?
Two risks pull in opposite directions. Deleting held data, even through an automated retention job, can have serious legal consequences, so the hold has to reach every copy in scope. Keeping data after a hold is released, with no other reason, conflicts with privacy rules that limit how long personal data may be stored. Held data also consumes capacity for as long as the matter runs. A register of open holds, reviewed with counsel at regular intervals, addresses all three.
Frequently asked questions
Who can place a legal hold?
The decision belongs to legal counsel. IT applies it using accounts that have the specific permission to set holds.
Does a legal hold expire automatically?
No. It remains until someone with the right permission removes it.
Can a legal hold and a retention period apply to the same object?
Yes. They are independent, and the object stays protected until both have ended.