DORMANT DATA PARTNERS
PREPARATION CHECKLIST
Revision: 26 October 2026

[ ] Identify the person authorized to commission the inventory.
[ ] Record retention duties, legal holds and restrictions before copying or changing material.
[ ] List systems, cloud accounts, physical media, locations and custodians.
[ ] Note retirement dates and dependencies on hardware, software or former staff.
[ ] Record known formats, date ranges and approximate volumes; use Unknown where needed.
[ ] Describe access problems without including credentials or encryption keys.
[ ] Preserve existing catalogs, schemas, data dictionaries and migration notes.
[ ] Locate acquisition agreements, contributor permissions and licensing records.
[ ] Flag possible personal or confidential data for appropriate review.
[ ] Record observations separately from assumptions and inferred metadata.
[ ] Agree secure working-copy and integrity-check procedures with the authorized owner.
[ ] Obtain ownership and privacy review before preparing or sharing samples.
[ ] Assign each open question a responsible person and a next step.

Do not repeatedly attempt reads on damaged media. Seek specialist assessment.
This checklist does not establish ownership, clear rights, authorize recovery
or provide a valuation. No files need to be uploaded to make an inquiry.

Recovery planner: https://dormantdatapartners.com/preparation/recovery-planner/
Accession inquiry: https://dormantdatapartners.com/accession/
Contact: hello@dormantdatapartners.com