FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Fifteen questions that come up in scoping calls — on the archive-trustee trade, storage sovereignty, post-cessation GDPR, pricing, retention, end-of-period arbitration. If yours is not here, write to us.
-
01 What is an archive trustee?
An archive trustee is an independent operator that takes over the digital estate of an extinguished or winding-up entity (company, non-profit, sole trader), keeps it under contract for a defined period, and arbitrates at term between extension, deletion or transfer of rights. The trade transposes an old archivist function to the digital. Archivum is neither a generic storage service, nor a regulated evidential vault, nor a software escrow.
-
02 What happens if I do nothing at cessation?
The website eventually disappears at domain or hosting expiry. The contact mailbox no longer reaches anyone. Accounting records, contracts, professional email stay scattered on SaaS accounts and personal drives that nobody maintains. Yet legal obligations — ten-year accounting retention under French Commercial Code art. L.123-22, HR archives, residual contracts — keep running long after registry removal. Without an archive trustee, those obligations fall personally on former directors or on the liquidator.
-
03 How much does Archivum archiving cost?
Pricing depends on five parameters: your website, your archives, your customer data, your mailboxes, and the number of named decision-makers in the contract — all projected on the retention duration. For a typical entity (SAS with 5-10 employees, moderate archives, 5-year retention), the order of magnitude is a few thousand euros per year excl. VAT. The public estimator on the Pricing page gives an order of magnitude in a few clicks. The actual price is set in the quote, after the free initial scoping.
-
04 Is the initial scoping paid?
No. The first scoping hour and the resulting written memo (two to five working days) are free of charge, with no commitment. This free nature also lets Archivum assess the feasibility of the case before committing to a convention. If you choose not to proceed, you keep the memo, we keep your contact details, end of story.
-
05 Does my data leave France or the EU?
No, never. All customer data (documentary archives, continuity sites, email archives) is stored in metropolitan France on Scaleway infrastructure, in data centres located in France. For public-facing delivery of continuity sites, Cloudflare is used as a frontal CDN with no primary storage. No customer data leaves the EU, at any point in the process. No replication to a US hyperscaler.
-
06 Is Archivum NF Z42-013-certified or qualified eIDAS?
No. Archivum is not NF Z42-013-certified, not a qualified eIDAS provider, and not a regulated evidential vault operator — and does not claim to be, including as a future intention. The only claimed legal framework is the GDPR and French general contract law. The cryptographic fingerprints generated at deposit prove the technical integrity of a file over time but do not constitute regulated evidential value under article 1366 of the French Civil Code.
-
07 Who can access the archives during conservation?
Only the persons nominally designated in the contract as grantees. Each consultation is recorded in a logged register accessible to other grantees under the agreed voting rule. For multi-decision-maker structures (former partners, spouses, heirs), the contract sets a collegial voting mechanism — simple majority, qualified majority, unanimity or veto right — framing access and arbitration decisions.
-
08 What happens at the end of the retention period?
Three months before each deadline, the successors named in the contract are notified. They decide collegially between three options: extension for a new period, secure deletion with an enforceable destruction certificate, or transfer of rights to the archive trustee (Archivum then inherits contractually the domain, published content or archives under the terms set in advance). Failing a decision within the period, the contract's default scenario applies automatically — typically the status quo. No deletion is ever triggered by default.
-
09 Why take over email in 'inbound-only' mode?
Because a shut-down mailbox loses important mail — administrative summons, warranty follow-ups, GDPR requests, customer disputes — that keeps arriving years after cessation. Inbound-only preserves these messages and lets successors consult them, with no impersonation risk since no outgoing mail is possible. Outgoing DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are removed, which invalidates any attempt to send mail from your former address.
-
10 Is my site SEO preserved after migration?
Yes. Canonical URLs, meta tags, sitemap, breadcrumbs and HTML structure are kept identical during the static HTML regeneration. Search engines keep understanding your site as before cessation. The value of accumulated inbound links erodes slowly (over a few years) but does not collapse overnight. The domain name is kept under contract, which preserves the accumulated authority.
-
11 How long does the full setup take?
The preparation phase (scoping, contract, migration plan) takes two to four weeks. The operational migration (extractions, deposit, site regeneration, email takeover, end-of-migration record) takes four to eight weeks. For court liquidations under time pressure, we can compress to ten working days in coordination with the appointed administrator. The goal is for migration to complete by the day before effective registry removal at the latest.
-
12 What happens to the domain name?
The domain name is kept under contract for the full archiving duration, with automatic renewal. TLS certificates and DNS records are also managed by Archivum, with no intervention from you. At end-of-period arbitration, the domain is one of the assets the successors decide on: extension, release (deletion) or transfer to the archive trustee, who may then keep carrying the domain.
-
13 Can I archive just part (only the site, or only the email)?
Yes. The three service lines — documentary archiving, website continuity, email continuity — can be taken alone or combined. A freelancer winding up will often need archives and email without a site to keep. A dissolving association will need a site, mailboxes and archives but no big customer data volume. The grid adapts. The initial scoping validates the combination that makes sense in your situation.
-
14 What happens in case of an administrative or judicial request?
If an administration (tax, social security) or a court requests access to archives under conservation, Archivum follows the procedure set in the contract: immediate notification to grantees, verification of the legitimacy of the request, execution under French law. The consultation is logged like any other. For civil disputes ongoing during conservation, Archivum can act as a third-party holder and provide the documents on legal request.
-
15 How do I get started?
The right entry point is initial scoping: one hour by video call, free of charge, no commitment. Book a slot via Calendly or write to us at [email protected]. We understand your situation, we validate a perimeter, you walk away with a written memo within two to five working days and two or three priced scenarios in EUR HT/year, to discuss internally before any signature.
-
16 Does Archivum handle NFT projects that are closing down?
Yes, but with a precise scope. The smart contract and tokens on the chain require no intervention — they persist by design. Archivum takes over the off-chain assets that give the NFT meaning: JSON metadata files, high-resolution images, editorial site with the lore, support mailboxes. We also keep IPFS pinning active for the contract duration, which guarantees that announced hashes keep resolving. See the NFT-project-end-of-life use case.
Another question?
Not every situation fits a FAQ. If yours needs a direct exchange, initial scoping is the right channel — free, one hour, no commitment.