# minimal retention

Data and digital residue are kept only while they continue to serve a deliberate purpose.

## Practices using this concept

[Browse the complete practice index](https://live.freewithtech.com/#practices)

### [Delete unused online accounts](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/delete-unused-online-accounts.md)

An account that no longer serves a purpose remains an unnecessary dependency and exposure.

**Start small:** Delete one unused account after saving anything you still need from it.

### [Let resolved conversations expire](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/let-resolved-conversations-expire.md)

A concluded conversation can expire once its lasting information has moved to the right place.

**Start small:** Delete one concluded chat after saving anything you still need.

### [Extract durable information from chat](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/extract-durable-information-from-chat.md)

Tasks, events, decisions, and memories become easier to find when they leave the chat stream and enter the system that owns them.

**Start small:** Move one unresolved task or date from a chat into your journal, task list, or calendar.

### [Use the phone as temporary storage](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/use-the-phone-as-temporary-storage.md)

A phone can capture new media temporarily while the long-term library lives in owned, recoverable storage.

**Start small:** Choose one completed month of media and decide where its long-term copy belongs.

### [Review connected apps and permissions](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/review-connected-apps-and-permissions.md)

Connected apps can retain access to sensitive accounts and data after their original purpose has ended.

**Start small:** Open the connected-apps page for one important account and remove one integration you no longer use.

### [Keep public profiles thin](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/keep-public-profiles-thin.md)

A profile that holds a whole life becomes a reason to stay with the platform that hosts it.

**Start small:** Open one profile and remove or archive one category of life that does not serve its named purpose.

### [Leave groups whose purpose has ended](https://live.freewithtech.com/practices/leave-groups-whose-purpose-has-ended.md)

A group made for an event or a season keeps a claim on you after that reason is gone.

**Start small:** Leave one group that was created for a past event.

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