Reality Defender can delete your media as soon as analysis finishes, sometimes called "zero retention." This article explains what's deleted, what's kept, and how to turn it on for each product.
What "zero retention" means
Zero retention means your media is deleted as soon as analysis finishes. Your results are kept, because they're what you see in the dashboard and receive through the API and webhooks.
It's off by default. Every product keeps media unless an admin changes the setting.
Each product has its own setting. Turning it on for RealScan doesn't turn it on for RealCall or RealMeeting.
Your results aren't affected. The result is stored separately from the media, so deleting the media doesn't change or remove the result.
How it works
Your media is uploaded or streamed to Reality Defender.
Reality Defender prepares the media for analysis, for example by splitting video into chunks or extracting the audio track.
The detection models analyze the media.
The model outputs are combined into a single scan result, which is saved.
The retention setting is applied. If your organization has turned on deletion after analysis, the media is deleted at this point. Otherwise, it's kept.
Temporary working files created in step 2 are always deleted when processing finishes, whatever the setting.
What's deleted and what's kept
Product | Deleted after analysis (when the setting is on) | Kept |
RealScan and API | The original file, and the working copies generated from it: the converted file, preview image, and extracted audio track | The scan result (score, conclusion, per-model breakdown, and explanation) and basic file information: file size, video or audio length, creation time, and GPS coordinates if the file contains them |
RealCall | Each short audio segment, as soon as it's analyzed, and the uploaded file for file-based submissions | Call and segment results (conclusion, probability, and detected languages) and call records: call identifier, direction, phone numbers, timestamps, and any metadata you provide |
RealMeeting | The short detection sample captured for each scan: the video clip, its preview frame, and the underlying capture files | Per-participant results (score and conclusion) and meeting details: meeting topic, meeting number, participant display name, and timestamps |
RealMeeting doesn't record meetings. For each scan, it records only as much of a participant as it needs to reach a result. While deletion is off, you can play this clip back in RealMeeting. No transcripts or voiceprints are ever created or stored.
How to turn it on
Go to Settings and select the tab for your product: RealScan, RealMeeting, or RealCall. Each tab has its own setting:
RealScan (also covers the API) — Turn on Delete original files after analysis. Available to organization owners and admins.
RealMeeting — Turn on Delete files after analysis. Available to organization owners and RealMeeting admins.
RealCall — Under Audio retention policy, change Retain audio indefinitely to Delete audio immediately after processing, or to Delete audio after a retention period (1–365 days).
Things to know
It applies to new scans only. Turning it on doesn't delete media from earlier scans.
It can't be used with Context Aware. Context models need the original file, so in RealScan, turn off context models before turning on deletion.
Uploads that are never analyzed are cleaned up automatically.
It isn't the same as deleting your account. To delete your account and its data, see Managing Your Plan & Billing.
For how Reality Defender handles PII and third-party processing, see How does Reality Defender protect PII and other sensitive data?