Data Retention

[cyberlocity]

Does anybody know with certainty how far back Google retains copies of
a user's e-mail?

This is a critical, legal issue for which I will be eternally grateful
to any who respond. Thx.

[Fuzzy Logic]

As far back as you keep them in your account. Beyond that, it's hit or
miss as to whether they will still be in the backups.

Fuzzy

[Nick Chirchirillo]

Yeah, as long as you don't delete them, they are here to stay.  I still have emails from three years ago when I first started using GMail.

[cyberlocity]

Thanks, Nick, and "Fuzzy Logic". Your comments are encouraging as I
wish not to have my e-mails discovered under a civil subpoena being
sought by my former employer. I routinely, daily, as long as I have
had gmail delete all my messages, even the spam folder and then empty
the trash, sometimes 2x/day. I have them on my hard drive as I get
them thru a POP account on Outlook. Hopefully your assumptions are
correct and I would have made the same assumptions as a practical
matter.

Anything more definitive will be surely welcome.

Thx again.