Deleting user data

Deleting user data (disabling and anonymizing)

How are user profiles and personal data removed?

Administrators can remove user access and profiles via the admin panel.

User data removal is performed in two phases:

  1. Deactivation
  2. Anonymization

1️⃣ Deactivation

Deactivation moves the user profile to an inactive state.

  • The user can no longer log in
  • The profile is no longer active in the organization
  • Data remains stored in the database
  • The profile can be reactivated if needed

Deactivation is suitable for situations such as:

  • employee leaving the organization
  • temporary suspension
  • legal or business-related retention requirements

2️⃣ Anonymization

Anonymization permanently removes personal data.

  • Personal profile data is deleted from the database
  • Data cannot be restored
  • The process is irreversible

Anonymization does not remove:

  • swarms created by the user
  • comments written by the user
  • files uploaded by the user

Content remains in the system but is no longer linked to an identifiable individual.

Automatic Deactivation (AD Integration)

When Azure AD / Entra ID integration is enabled, automatic deactivation can be activated.

Skillhive will:

  • check once per week whether the user’s AD account is still valid
  • automatically deactivate the profile if the account is no longer active

Automatic Anonymization (Under Development)

Automatic anonymization is not currently available.

This feature is under development.

When implemented, organizations will be able to define:

  • a retention period after which deactivated users are automatically anonymized.

Automatic Deactivation and Anonymization

Skillhive supports both automated and manual user lifecycle management.

1. Automatic Deactivation (AD/Entra Integration)

When AD/Entra integration is enabled:

  • Skillhive periodically checks whether the user account is still active in AD
  • If not, the user profile is automatically deactivated
  • Deactivated users cannot log in

2. Automatic Anonymization

Organizations can define a retention period for deactivated users

(e.g., anonymize 2 years after deactivation).

After anonymization:

  • Personal data is permanently removed
  • The profile cannot be restored
  • User-generated content remains without personal identifiers

This enables a fully automated lifecycle:

Deactivation → Retention → Anonymization.