What audit trails are needed for archived data?

Essential audit trails for archives

Audit trails should provide a clear, tamper-evident record of who did what and when, so you can prove the authenticity and handling of archived data.

Critical elements to capture:

• User identity and role for each action.
• Timestamps for access, modification, export, or deletion attempts.
• Object identifiers and checksums to verify integrity.
• Reason codes or request details for privileged actions.

Store logs securely and independently of the archive, and retain them according to audit requirements. Provide tooling to query logs during investigations and audits. Immutable or append-only logging protects the audit trail itself from tampering and strengthens forensic credibility.