Traceless is built so that sensitive data is never stored long term. Our system is designed specifically to ensure that your private data exists only as long as it's useful and no longer. Messages, passwords and files you share are removed automatically: when they are opened or when they expire, and by safety nets that do not depend on anyone remembering to clean up. This article explains each layer.
The short version
What you share | Where it lives | When it is deleted |
Messages and passwords | Valkey, an in-memory key-value store | As soon as the recipient opens it, or when its timer runs out, whichever comes first |
Files | An encrypted object storage (S3) bucket | Shortly after the recipient downloads the file (an automated check runs every minute), and never longer than 7 days after upload |
Neither messages nor files are kept for longer than 7 days.
Messages and passwords are stored in memory with a timer
When you create a trace, the message or password is encrypted and written to Valkey, an in-memory key-value store. It is held in memory rather than in a database table, it is never written to our logs, and it is never part of a backup.
Every item is stored with a time-to-live (TTL) that you choose when you create it, from 1 minute up to 7 days (the default is 1 day). Valkey enforces the timer itself: when the TTL ends, the item is removed from memory automatically. No scheduled clean-up job has to run for this to happen, and the data cannot be read after that point even by Traceless.
One time, then gone
A trace can be opened once. When the recipient chooses to view it, Traceless hands it over and deletes it immediately, so a second visit to the same link finds nothing. If a link is forwarded and used by someone else first, the intended recipient will see that it is already gone.
The record Traceless keeps afterwards (that a trace was created, who it was for, and when it was opened) never contains the content itself.
Optional extras
A passcode can be required to open a trace.
Multi-factor verification (for example a passkey) can be required before the data is released. Failing verification does not delete the data, but the timer keeps running, so it still expires on schedule.
Files
Files are larger than messages, so they are stored in an encrypted S3 bucket instead of memory. Three independent mechanisms remove them.
1. A clean-up worker that runs every minute
A background worker runs once a minute and looks for files that have been retrieved. Retrieved files are deleted from the bucket. Once the file is deleted, the reference to it is removed from the trace record and the trace is marked as deleted.
2. A bucket lifecycle policy of 7 days
The bucket itself has a lifecycle policy that deletes every object once it is 7 days old. This is enforced by the storage service, separately from the worker above. Files that were never downloaded, or that the worker could not reach for any reason, are still removed by the bucket no later than 7 days after upload.
3. The same expiry timer as everything else
A file trace has the same time-to-live as a message trace. After it expires the link no longer works, even if the file is still in the bucket for a short time before the worker or lifecycle policy removes it.
Why there are two layers
Each layer covers the weakness of the other:
The timer and one-time read mean data is gone as quickly as possible in the normal case.
The worker removes files promptly after use, rather than waiting days.
The 7-day lifecycle policy is the backstop. Even if a worker were delayed or a trace was abandoned, the storage service guarantees nothing outlives the 7-day maximum.
What this means for you
Share sensitive data through a Traceless link instead of email, chat or tickets so that it is not left in those systems.
Choose the shortest timer that works for your recipient.
You do not need to delete anything yourself, and you cannot extend retention beyond 7 days.
Questions
If your security review needs more detail (for example the encryption in transit and at rest, or our audit trail of trace activity), contact Traceless support and we can walk through it with you.