Closing a CipherDrive™ account or ending access can affect your files in several different ways. Do not assume that account closure is an instant, reversible, or universal delete operation across every system and every copy.
When an account is closed or terminated, your right to access the affected service ends according to the applicable terms and account action.
Ackaia may delete, preserve, disable, restrict, or retain data according to:
the type of closure or termination;
the current product retention policy;
billing or plan status;
backup and disaster-recovery lifecycles;
security or abuse investigations;
legal obligations;
disputes or evidence-preservation requirements.
Because these conditions can vary, CipherDrive does not promise that every encrypted blob disappears from every system at the exact moment an account is closed.
Before you confirm account closure:
download or export every file you want to keep;
verify that the exported files are readable;
store an independent backup;
keep the required vault keys or local cryptographic material until the export is complete.
CipherDrive's zero-knowledge model means Ackaia may not have the keys required to create readable exports for you after you lose local cryptographic access.
Encrypted file blobs and storage metadata may remain temporarily when they are:
in trash;
in encrypted backups;
in disaster-recovery systems;
subject to a deletion lifecycle;
associated with an account suspension or dispute;
preserved for an abuse investigation or legal obligation.
Backup deletion can occur on a delayed lifecycle schedule after data is removed from active systems.
Ackaia does not publish one universal retention period for every object and every situation. Retention depends on the type of data and the reason it is being kept.
Some records can remain after the encrypted object or account is no longer active. Examples can include:
billing and transaction records;
security logs;
transfer records;
copy-provenance records;
trust and safety records;
investigation and enforcement records;
fraud- or abuse-prevention records;
records required for legal, accounting, tax, or evidence-preservation purposes.
The existence of metadata after deletion does not by itself give Ackaia the cryptographic keys required to decrypt a CipherDrive file.
Closing an account, deleting a source object, or revoking a Public Link can prevent future access through Ackaia's systems where the relevant object and link are disabled.
However, CipherDrive cannot reliably recall a copy that a recipient already:
downloaded;
saved to local storage;
copied;
cached;
screenshotted;
forwarded;
re-uploaded or redistributed.
An authenticated recipient may be able to save shared content as a separate encrypted copy in their own CipherDrive storage.
That saved copy is designed to be operationally independent from your original object. As a result:
deleting your original file does not necessarily delete the recipient's saved copy;
revoking your Public Link does not necessarily delete the recipient's saved copy;
closing your account does not necessarily delete the recipient's saved copy.
The recipient becomes responsible for their independent copy under the applicable CipherDrive policies and law.
Do not rely on retention systems as a backup or recovery feature.
A file being temporarily present in a backup or retention system does not mean Ackaia can restore it on request. Zero-knowledge encryption, deletion state, account state, lifecycle policies, and key availability can all prevent restoration.
Ackaia also does not guarantee that all data will always be preserved or recoverable.
Ackaia may suspend, restrict, or terminate access for reasons described in its Terms, including serious policy violations, unpaid fees, security or legal risk, fraud, abuse, or legal requirements.
After termination, Ackaia may disable or restrict accounts, objects, Public Links, transfer systems, or related infrastructure, and may preserve records where required for safety, enforcement, legal compliance, or evidence preservation.
If you need a file after account closure, export and independently back it up before closing the account. Do not treat CipherDrive retention, trash, backups, or support access as a guaranteed recovery mechanism.