As Highlanders transitioned to hybrid teaching, learning, and working, UC Riverside’s Zoom adoption rate also increased significantly. Yet despite this development, UCR has yet to join other University of California campuses in establishing a retention policy for content stored in Zoom cloud storage.

To proactively mitigate cloud storage constraints in Zoom and to ensure that UCR operates in alignment with other UC campuses, Information Technology Solutions (ITS) and XCITE Center for Teaching and Learning are announcing the implementation of the Zoom Retention Policy.

The Zoom Retention Policy will take effect on September 1, 2024 and is applicable to all Highlanders with a UCR-provisioned Zoom account. Under the new policy, users will only have 9 months (from the date of creation) to retain recordings that are temporarily stored in Zoom cloud. During this period, users have the option to either remove or transfer their recordings to other storage options.

The Zoom Retention Policy will also be applied retroactively. This means that from September 1st, all recordings older than 9 months (i.e., from December 1, 2023) will automatically be transferred to the recycle bin. Users then have an additional 30 days to recover recordings stored in the recycle bin before they are permanently deleted. Users will receive an automated notification seven days before the files are permanently deleted.

While Zoom is a robust collaboration platform, its cloud storage is only meant for short-term storage of video content. For long-term storage of content such as training and instructional videos, Highlanders are encouraged to explore other storage options, namely YuJa and Google Drive. It is also best practice to periodically review stored recordings, identify which content is still relevant, and regularly perform a cleanup.

For questions and concerns about the Zoom Retention Policy, please email bearhelp@ucr.edu.