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PR agencies: destroying media contact data

2 August 2026 · 10 min read · DeSnipperaar

A PR or communications agency lives on contacts. Journalist lists, media databases, guest lists for launches, mailings to newsrooms and the personal data that comes with them. Alongside these sit client campaigns, embargo-sensitive material and old project archives holding everything a brand does not want to see out in the open. Part falls under the tax retention obligation, the greater part should be kept as briefly as possible. This guide shows, by part, what you keep, when it may go and how to destroy it confidentially.

The quick answer. Media contacts and journalist lists you keep current and no longer than the relationship runs. Personal data in mailings and guest lists you clear out as soon as the purpose has lapsed. The invoicing and project administration fall under the tax seven years. What may go disappears confidentially and with a certificate.

Two frameworks: current contacts and the GDPR

At a communications agency two interests run together. You want your media contacts current and complete, because an outdated journalist list costs you reach. At the same time the GDPR requires not keeping personal data longer than necessary and having a valid ground for each processing. A name, a newsroom, a phone number and a topic preference are personal data, even when they are professional.

So treat the data per type. A live media contact has a different status than a guest list for an event already past, or a draft press release that never went out. If you make that distinction, you keep exactly what has value and clear out the rest on time.

Retention periods by part

The period differs per type of data. The overview below gives the main line. Count the tax period from the end of the financial year and the other periods from the moment the purpose lapses.

Part	Starting point	Period
Invoicing and project administration	Tax retention obligation	7 years
Media contacts and journalist lists	Purpose limitation, keep current	as long as the relationship runs
Mailings and guest lists	Consent or legitimate interest	until the purpose lapses
Embargo-sensitive and draft material	Confidential, no retention duty	until publication or lapse
Old project archives	After completion and tax	purpose-bound + 7 years
Correspondence and drafts	No retention obligation	clear out at once

Use this as a guideline, not a substitute for your own assessment per assignment. When in doubt, consult your privacy adviser. The tax side is in the GDPR retention periods cheatsheet.

Keeping journalist lists and mailings current

A media database ages fast. Journalists move newsroom, titles disappear and contacts indicate they no longer follow a topic. A list you leave unchanged for years is full of data that serves no purpose and that you therefore should not have kept. So clean the list periodically. Remove contacts that are no longer accurate and respect a request not to be approached.

Guest lists for a launch or press moment have an even shorter shelf life. After the event the purpose has lapsed. If you want to approach the same people for a next campaign, you need a valid ground, not a saved list from last year. Whatever you had on paper, from printed address lists to name badges, does not belong in the paper bin but is destroyed confidentially. The same goes for the exports you once printed out. How to handle promotional material is set out in destroying promotional material and business cards.

Embargo-sensitive material and old project archives

A PR agency works with information that may only go public at an agreed moment. Embargo material, draft press releases, strategy documents and a client's figures are worth gold to anyone who gets them too early. While a campaign runs you keep them carefully, but once they are published or lapsed the drafts lose their value. Do not leave them lying in a drawer or on an old drive.

After an assignment is completed a project archive often remains with briefings, proofs, photo material and client data. Keep the administration for the tax period and clear out the creative material once the accountability is settled. That way you keep an advertising archive manageable, just as set out in advertising agencies: client campaigns and archives. If you work with respondent or research data for a campaign, the points from market research agencies: destroying respondent data apply.

How to handle it in 6 steps

1. Split the data into administration, media contacts, mailings and project archive.
2. Clean the journalist lists and remove outdated or unwanted contacts.
3. Clear out guest lists once the event is over and there is no ground left.
4. Limit embargo material to the run time of the campaign.
5. Collect what may go in sealed containers, not in the paper bin.
6. Have it destroyed confidentially with a certificate and record it in your register.

Destroy confidentially with a certificate

Campaign material and media data is destroyed confidentially, because it contains personal data, client secrets and embargo-sensitive information. The paper and any data carriers travel sealed and stay that way until destruction, so the chain is closed. An old laptop, phone or backup with a media database or client presentation belongs with it too. More background is in destroying confidential documents.

Afterwards you receive a certificate of destruction with the date, quantity and level. That certificate is your proof towards the GDPR and towards your client that you acted carefully. Record the destruction in your record of processing. We collect within 20 km of Amsterdam with no call-out charge, work nationwide through pooled collection rounds and charge a fixed price per box or roll container. Drop-off on site is not possible; it works by appointment through collection.

Common mistakes

• Leaving journalist lists unchanged for years. An outdated list serves no purpose.
• Reusing guest lists without a ground. After the event the purpose has lapsed.
• Leaving embargo material lying about. Information leaked too early harms the client.
• Throwing away unshredded. A client presentation on the street is a reportable data breach.
• Keeping no proof. Without a certificate you cannot demonstrate the destruction.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a PR agency keep media contacts and journalist lists?

As long as the relationship runs and the data is current. A media contact is personal data, so you keep the list clean and remove journalists who have changed role or have asked not to be approached. There is no fixed period, only the duty not to keep it longer than necessary.

May we keep personal data from mailings and guest lists for later campaigns?

Only with a valid ground. A guest list for a one-off event no longer has a purpose afterwards. Reuse for a next campaign requires consent or a demonstrable legitimate interest. Without a ground you clear the list out.

How long do we keep invoice and project data from client campaigns?

The invoicing and project administration fall under the seven-year tax retention obligation. The creative and embargo-sensitive material in a project archive you keep no longer than necessary for the completion and accountability of the assignment.

How do we destroy confidential campaign material in line with the GDPR?

Confidentially and with a certificate of destruction. Paper and data carriers travel sealed and stay that way until destruction. You record the action in your record of processing as proof.

Conclusion

A PR or communications agency works with media contacts, client secrets and embargo-sensitive material, between current relationship management and the GDPR. Keep the journalist lists clean and current, clear out guest lists once the purpose lapses and keep the administration seven years. Embargo material and old project archives lose their value after publication. What may go you have destroyed confidentially with a certificate as proof. That way you protect your clients, your contacts and your reputation.

Read also: software companies: destroying customer data, web hosting and cloud providers: destroying customer data, publishers: destroying subscriber and author data and the GDPR retention periods cheatsheet.

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Have media data collected? Request a quote via desnipperaar.nl. Within a few minutes you have a fixed price, including a certificate as proof.