New retention policy for Zoom recordings: do you need to take action?

UCL will be implementing a retention policy for all recordings within Zoom. This policy is being introduced to make the most effective use of our available Zoom storage capacity.

We are not able to provide long-term storage in Zoom due to the number of recordings involved.  As a result, from 7 December onwards, any recordings that are more than six weeks old (42 days) will be removed from the UCL Zoom account.

If you wish to retain any recordings for longer than six weeks, you will need to move them from your UCL Zoom Account to an alternative storage location as outlined below:

• Teaching material should be stored in Lecturecast.
• Recordings that only you need to access can be stored on either your personal network share (N: drive) or OneDrive.
• Recordings to be shared with other UCL staff can be stored on a departmental network share (S: drive) or SharePoint site. You should ensure that access to the S: drive or SharePoint site is restricted to those who should have access to the recording.
• Recordings to be shared with a wider and/or external audience can be stored on Mediacentral. For more information on working with videos in Mediacentral, see the Mediacentral website, or contact the team via mediacentral@ucl.ac.uk.

Please note: Any recordings must comply with UCL policy. For more information visit our webpage on Sharing Recordings in Zoom and UCL guidance on capturing images and video.

What action do I need to take?

If you do not wish to keep a recording for longer than six weeks, you do not need to take any action. It will automatically be deleted from your account six weeks after the date of recording.

If you have a teaching recording made from 21 October onwards your recording will be automatically copied to Lecturecast providing you have an instructor or student role in Lecturecast and have not opted out. You do not need to take any action in this case. Please note however, if you do not have these roles you must manually move the recordings to Lecturecast. See guidance on moving recordings from Zoom for more information.

If you have a teaching recording made before 21 October you must manually move your recordings to Lecturecast. See guidance on moving recordings from Zoom for more information.

If you have a non-teaching recording which you wish to keep for longer than six weeks, you must move your recording to the recommended long-term storage location as above. Recordings which were made on or before 25 October must be moved prior to 7 December when the policy is implemented as they will be six weeks old at this point. After 7 December, when the retention policy is implemented, recordings must be moved before they reach six weeks old. See guidance on moving recordings from Zoom for more information.

Why is this retention policy being implemented?

This retention policy will allow us to make most effective use of the available cloud storage capacity of Zoom, ensuring that unwanted content is not retained for longer than is necessary. This will permit an adequate amount of storage to be available for all UCL users.

If you have any questions about the Zoom retention policy please email Zoom support.

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