How do we recover our records when a cloud vendor or contractor holds them and the contract is ending or terminated?

When a cloud vendor or contractor holds your records, ownership of those records does not transfer to the provider. The agency or organization remains responsible for them throughout their lifecycle. A contract that is ending or being terminated is a high-risk moment: it is when records can be stranded, deleted, or locked behind a system you no longer pay for. Acting early and methodically protects your ability to retrieve, read, and use the records afterward.

Start with the contract and your inventory

Recovery is far easier when the groundwork was laid up front, but you can still act now:

• Locate the exit, transition, and data-return clauses. Look for language on data extraction, return formats, deletion certification, and the time window you have after termination.
• Identify exactly what the vendor holds — record types, volumes, retention requirements, and any records still under legal hold or pending access requests.
• Confirm who controls the storage and the keys. If encryption keys or accounts are vendor-managed, prioritize regaining that control.

Get the records out in usable form

The goal is not just bytes, but records you can still trust and access:

• Request a full export including content, metadata, and audit/event history. Metadata establishes context and authenticity and is itself part of the record.
• Prefer open, non-proprietary formats so records remain readable without the vendor’s software. Capture documentation of any proprietary structures.
• Validate completeness by reconciling the export against your inventory and checking file counts, integrity (hashes), and that nothing under retention or hold is missing.

Preserve custody and close out

• Maintain chain of custody during transfer, and store recovered records in a managed repository under your control.
• Apply existing retention schedules and holds to the recovered material immediately.
• Obtain written certification of destruction for any copies the vendor retains, and confirm that backups and replicas are addressed.

Treat unscheduled or permanent records with particular care, since they cannot lawfully be destroyed.

For more on the responsibilities that follow your records even when a third party stores them, see federal records guidance. Building return and portability requirements into contracts before signing is the most reliable safeguard against losing access later.