Archiving Guidelines & Compliance
iLost recommends always following local laws and regulations when storing, handling, and archiving found items. Each organization is responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable legislation. iLost cannot be held liable if items are archived earlier or later than permitted under local regulations.
For identity documents, organizations must define and follow their own internal storage and handling procedures. To support GDPR compliance, iLost offers flexible archiving options, including the ability to archive items immediately after registration when required by internal policies or legal obligations.
Archiving Items in iLost
In your iLost dashboard, you will find the “Expired” category. This section contains items for which the configured retention period has ended.
Items in the Expired category:
Are automatically removed from the public website
Are no longer visible to owners
Can no longer receive new claims
As part of your internal process, items in this category should be archived regularly.
How to archive items
Open the “Expired” category in your dashboard
Select one or multiple items
Click the blue “Archive all” button
Assign a final destination to each item
Examples of final destinations include:
Charity
Disposal / Trash
Police
Any other destination aligned with your organization’s procedures
Admin users can create and manage final destination options under Company Settings.
Found Item Retention Periods
During the implementation of your iLost account, default retention periods are configured. These periods are based on:
Your organization’s internal policies
Applicable local legislation
Some item categories may require shorter retention periods than others. A common example includes passes, cards, and identity documents, which often need to be archived more quickly. Retention periods can be adjusted by the iLost Partner Support team, but only requests submitted by account administrators will be processed.
*Admin users can always manually accelerate the archiving of an item using the “More Actions” button.
**Please note that retention periods in your account may differ from default settings due to local laws or internal requirements.
Printing an Archive List
You can print a list of items that are ready to be archived. This is especially useful when clearing your physical storage location and you cannot take the device running iLost with you.
After clearing your physical storage, remember that items must also be archived in the iLost system by clicking the “Archive” button.
What to Do With Archived Items
Once an item has been archived in iLost, your organization becomes the legal owner and is responsible for determining how the item is processed. When handling items containing personal or sensitive information, we strongly recommend taking extra care and following all applicable regulations. Common post-archiving actions include:
Donate usable items
Items in good condition can be donated to charitable organizations and given a second life.
Auction items
Some organizations choose to auction valuable items, in accordance with internal policies and local regulations.
Follow legal requirements for identification documents
Passports, ID cards, driver’s licences, and other government-issued documents must be processed and disposed of in line with local legislation.
Destroy bank cards and access passes
To prevent misuse, bank cards, membership cards, and general access passes should be securely destroyed.
Destroy other general items
Items that cannot be reused, donated, or sold should be destroyed according to your organization’s procedures.