Deletion and expiry

On expiry day the gallery goes offline and files move to a 30-day archive. You can restore during the archive for ₹99 plus an extension. On day 30 files go to a 7-day recovery bin, on day 37 live files are permanently deleted, and by day 67 they are gone from all backups.

Yes. Pikvaa warns 30, 7 and 1 days before gallery access ends, and packs expiring within 7 days appear as red cards on the studio's Today screen. The studio and client are also notified when files move to the archive, so nobody loses photos without notice.

Yes. The main client taps 'Request deletion' in the gallery and confirms with an OTP on their phone. The studio handles it within a 30-day service-rule period, with a reminder at 15 days. Once approved, photos go to a 7-day recovery bin and are then purged, and a deletion record is kept.

If a verified deletion request is not handled within the 30-day period, the platform is alerted and a limited, audited privacy-officer role handles it. Support staff still cannot delete anything. Requests are paused only during a phone-number recovery or a legal hold.

After deletion, photos are purged within 7 days and age out of backups within 30 days. Pikvaa keeps a deletion record, invoices and payment records for 8 years and security and audit logs, without photos, for 1 year. Anything under a legal hold is kept until the hold is lifted.

Paid clients keep access until their pack ends and get a WhatsApp notice to download their photos. The studio cannot delete paid work during shutdown, except through a verified client deletion request, which follows its own reviewed process. Download your photos promptly once you get the notice.

No. Pikvaa never deletes files from your computer, phone or memory cards. The uploader only copies files to the cloud and verifies them. Keep your cards and your own second copy, because Pikvaa stores originals as a single copy and does not back them up.

Every event shows four dates: the selection deadline (60 days from go-live), gallery access end (pack end), storage expiry, and permanent deletion (37 days after storage expiry). Backup expiry, 67 days after storage expiry, is shown separately. All dates count in IST and also show in the client's local time.

Yes, the Owner can delete; permanent deletion is Owner-only. Deleted files move to a 7-day recovery bin, so mistakes can be restored within 7 days, and then they are purged along with ZIPs and share galleries. Paid work cannot be deleted during a studio shutdown except through a verified client request.

A legal hold pauses the whole deletion timeline for an event, including archive, recovery bin and backup expiry, until it is lifted. It also blocks the pack from being reused. The hold is recorded in the audit log, and data under hold is kept until the hold ends.