Safety & Design
Data retention
How long a service keeps personal data, such as a child's chat history, before it deletes that data or the account ends.
- Parents
- Educators and school leaders
- Businesses
This is general information, not legal advice.
What parents should know
Data retention is the clock on personal information. Some services keep a chat until you delete the account. Some keep it for a stated number of days. The privacy policy is where that clock should be written. This glossary does not state a HeyOtto deletion timeline, because that wording has not been cleared for this page.
On this page
What is data retention?
Retention answers two questions: what is kept, and until when. A chat product may keep transcripts so a parent can read them and so the child can continue a thread. That purpose is different from keeping chats to train a model or to sell ads. COPPA's rule expects a children's privacy policy to say something meaningful about collection and use, including how long information is kept. Quote the policy, not a memory of it.
Deletion is part of the same topic. A parent who deletes a profile should know whether the chat is removed from active systems, and how quickly. If the company has not published a number, do not invent one in a handbook or a glossary.
Why data retention matters
A long memory can help a parent review a hard week. It can also mean a secret the child typed is still on a server years later. The right length is a product and legal decision. Families should be able to read it without guessing.
HeyOtto parents can read chats in the dashboard while the account is in use. Chats are not sold and are not used to train models. Beyond that, use the privacy policy for the retention sentence. This page will not guess a number of days.
How it shows up in practice
- A privacy policy says chats are kept for the life of the account and deleted after a stated period once the account closes.
- Another policy never mentions time. That gap is the finding.
- A parent exports or reads a transcript before closing an account.
- A school contract asks the vendor for the retention line in writing.
How HeyOtto helps
Data retention is how long a service keeps personal data, such as a chat. This page does not state how many days HeyOtto keeps a transcript. A parent can read chats while the account is in use. Chats are not sold and are not used to train other models.
- Parents can read chats while the account is in use.
- Chats are not sold or used to train models.
- No retention number is stated on this page.
For families
Try freeFAQs
How long does HeyOtto keep chats?
This glossary does not say. Product and legal wording for a deletion timeline is not published here. Check HeyOtto's privacy policy, and treat a missing number as a question to ask, not as a guess.
Why keep chats at all?
So the child can continue the work and so a parent can read what happened. That purpose is not the same as training a model. HeyOtto does not use chats to train models.
Does COPPA require a retention date in the policy?
The COPPA Rule expects operators to describe their information practices, including retention, in the privacy policy. The exact sentence is in the rule and the FTC's business guidance. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. Law entries are reviewed every quarter.
This is general information, not legal advice.