How do I permanently erase a document?
Removing a document from the register hides it. Destroying it deletes the stored file and redacts the record, and cannot be undone.
This needs owner permissions.
- 1
Open the document from Evidence and choose Delete document, which removes it from the register.
Destruction refuses while a document is still on the register. Erasing something a filing depends on is not a step to make convenient.
- 2
Return to Evidence and scroll to Removed documents.
You should see: The document listed with the date it was removed, and a Destroy permanently button.
- 3
Choose Destroy permanently and write why, in at least twenty characters.
The reason is required. Destroying evidence is itself an auditable act, and 'because I was asked to' with a date and a name is what makes it defensible later.
Worth knowing
The stored file is deleted first, then the record is redacted - the file name, the description, the content hash and the size are cleared and the record is marked destroyed. What remains is a row saying a document existed, was destroyed, when, by whom and why.
That remainder is deliberate. GDPR Article 17(3)(b) lets a record-keeping obligation survive an erasure request, and a register with a silent hole in it is not one a supervisor can rely on.
There is no second attempt and no undo. If you are erasing on request under Article 17, be certain the request applies to this document.