Data removal

We don’t make money from your private data, and for data minimization reasons, unused free accounts are irretrievably deleted after a waiting period of a few weeks.

See the Terms of service for the exact duration.

Why data is deleted

Many people have quietly accepted that using the internet is a threat to their privacy — that their personal information is sold for profit and exploited by Big Tech.

Not with me. I don’t do that. I fight against it. I do everything I can to protect your privacy.

One of the strongest ways to protect your privacy is to delete your data when you’re no longer using the product.

I believe that deleting unused data is the best way to prove that collecting user accounts is not part of the business. I want to provide you with a safe working environment. Privacy first is one of my top rules.

There is no investor behind me, so I neither have nor want to inflate numbers with expired accounts. I make my own rules — and one of them is: if a trial account is not used for one month, it will be removed.

The system will warn you about an upcoming deletion with an email titled: “Your cloud is unused — Data deletion is imminent”

After receiving this email, you have a short period of a few days to log in and start a subscription to keep your cloud active.

If you don’t, your cloud will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored.

This process only applies to free users. Paying customers have their data protected and it will not be affected by this process.

Can you restore my deleted data?

The short answer: No.

If you were unaware of this rule and your data was deleted, it is gone. That is the entire point of deleting data in a privacy-compliant manner.

There is no backup of deleted data. It cannot be restored, even if you offer to pay for it.

Missing your login or cloud?

You can ask for details, but unfortunately there is nothing we can tell you.

If you stop using Kimai, your data is completely deleted — that’s GDPR in practice.

We don’t know whether you had an account in the past. If it’s no longer there but you’re certain it existed, it has been removed by our privacy processes.

You’re always welcome to register a new account and create a new cloud.

Please make sure you can receive and read the transactional system emails.

I don’t spam — you will only receive important updates about your cloud.

Unsubscribing from system emails is not only a bad idea — it’s also a violation of the Terms of Service.

Warning emails

Kimai sends warning emails when your cloud is unused, if the following applies:

• The trial period has expired and you’re on the unpaid plan
• The last timesheet was created more than 30 days ago

If you no longer need your Kimai cloud, you don’t have to do anything. Shortly after the warning email is sent, your cloud and account will be completely deleted.

Data protection for paying customers

Data for paying accounts is safe.

Paying customers are protected — their data will never be affected by this process while they have an active subscription.

Once a subscription is canceled, the rules above apply as well.

We do not keep your data just because you paid us in the past.

We have been asked whether we archive data for years to meet regulatory requirements in certain countries. We’re happy to do that — but only as a paid service.

If that’s not an option for you, please download your latest backup — it includes your entire cloud.