What Happens to Our Data If We Cancel Pulse?

Your alignment data belongs to your organization, not to Pulse. If you cancel, you keep access to your historical data for 90 days to export, and Pulse deletes the stored data on a defined schedule that your Data Processing Agreement specifies.

Who owns the data

Short answer: you do. Pulse is the processor. Your organization is the controller. That distinction is not legal boilerplate. It determines who has rights over the data, who can instruct how it is handled, and who is responsible for it under applicable law.

Your alignment history, team-level trend data, and check-in records belong to your organization from the moment they are created. Pulse does not have the right to use that data for any purpose outside of delivering the Pulse service to you. It cannot be sold, anonymized and aggregated into a benchmark product, or used to train models without your explicit written consent. None of those things happen by default, and none of them happen at cancellation.

This structure is sometimes called Trust Architecture: data flows laterally within your organization, not upward to a vendor or outward to a third party. The relationship is designed so that leaving Pulse does not leave data behind in someone else's control.

What happens in the first 90 days after cancellation

When you cancel your Pulse subscription, your account enters a 90-day post-cancellation window. During this period:

• Account administrators retain read access to all historical alignment data
• The data export tools in account settings remain fully functional
• No new check-ins can be created
• Billing stops at the end of the current billing period
• Your data is not deleted, modified, or moved during this window

The 90-day window exists specifically so your team has time to export, archive, or transfer any data your organization needs to retain for its own records. There is no charge for this period. It is part of the standard cancellation process.

If your organization has a specific regulatory or contractual reason to request a shorter or longer window, that can be negotiated into your Data Processing Agreement before or during your subscription.

How to export your alignment history before leaving

Exports are available to any account with administrator-level access. You do not need to contact support to export data. The process is self-serve.

From your account settings, navigate to the data export panel. You can export:

• Full check-in history in CSV or JSON format
• Team-level alignment trend data by date range
• Aggregated alignment scores across historical cycles
• Configuration data including question sets and cycle definitions

Individual responses remain anonymized in exports, consistent with how they are handled during active use. The anonymization rules that protected your staff while you were a customer apply equally to the exported data. See how Pulse protects staff anonymity in alignment data for the full breakdown of what is and is not identifiable in any export.

If your organization is leaving Pulse for an internal data system or a different tool, the JSON export is structured for straightforward import into most data warehouses and spreadsheet environments.

What Pulse deletes and when

Once the 90-day post-cancellation window closes, Pulse initiates a permanent deletion sequence. This includes:

• All alignment check-in data associated with your organization
• All team configuration and cycle data
• All account records beyond what is required for legal and tax compliance
• Any cached or derived data generated from your original inputs

Deletion is permanent. It cannot be reversed after the window closes. There is no archive tier, no recoverable backup, and no data retained in cold storage on your behalf after the deletion sequence completes.

The deletion timeline is documented in your DPA. If your organization requires a certificate of deletion for compliance or audit purposes, you can request one at the time of cancellation. Pulse will provide written confirmation once the deletion sequence has completed.

This is distinct from how user access works during an active subscription. For a full breakdown of who can see what while your account is live, see who can see what in Pulse.

What your DPA says about data retention

Your Data Processing Agreement is the authoritative document for your organization's specific data handling terms. The standard Pulse DPA covers:

• The 90-day post-cancellation access window
• Permanent deletion timelines and procedures
• Data sub-processor disclosures (infrastructure providers, backup systems)
• Geographic data residency if applicable to your region
• Your rights as data controller to audit, restrict, or instruct data handling

If your organization operates in a regulated environment, your DPA will include addenda for the applicable frameworks. FERPA addenda are standard for K-12 institutions. GDPR and CCPA addenda are available for organizations operating under those jurisdictions. State-specific education data privacy laws may require additional terms depending on your state.

If your procurement or IT team needs to review the DPA before signing, that is a standard request and does not require a sales process. The DPA is shared at the start of the evaluation process, not after a contract is in place.

If you are evaluating Pulse and want to understand the full cost and contract structure before committing, see what Pulse costs for a complete breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are evaluating Pulse alongside other organizational alignment software and data handling is a deciding factor in your evaluation, the DPA review is the right starting point. Most procurement teams have their questions answered within one conversation.