Archiving a closed press inquiry in the Netherlands in 2026: what stays and for how long

By Lotte Wijnands · Refreshed 4 September 2026 · 7 min read

How long must you keep a closed press inquiry in the Netherlands in 2026?

Under the Dutch Personal Data Protection Act (AVG), which implements the European GDPR, a closed press inquiry and all related correspondence must be kept for a minimum of two years from the date the inquiry is closed. This period covers the standard statute of limitations for claims related to data processing. The PR-Dashboard product Persvragen, which costs EUR 2,700 (no period stated on the product page, read 1 September 2026), includes an archiving function that automatically stores each closed inquiry, the full exchange, and the date it was archived.

Keeping records this long helps your organisation demonstrate compliance if a journalist or a regulator asks to see the history.

The two year period is a guideline, not a hard maximum. Some organisations in regulated sectors like healthcare or finance keep press inquiries for five years or longer. The key is that you delete the records as soon as you no longer have a legal or business reason to keep them. Persvragen does not enforce a specific retention period, so your team can set its own rules inside the system.

What should an archive of a press inquiry contain?

A complete archive must hold the original press question as received, the date and time it arrived, the full response sent back, the name of the journalist and their outlet, and the date the inquiry was closed. That database journalist database, which costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins (read 1 September 2026 from pr-dashboard.nl/producten), helps teams quickly enter and link the journalist's details to the archived record.

The inquiry desk stores all of these fields in a single interface, so a board member or a compliance officer can find the full history without searching through emails.

The Amsterdam supplier product pages, read 1 September 2026, describe that module as a tool for handling incoming press questions. The module automatically groups each inquiry into a thread, keeping the original question and every reply together. This structure is exactly what an auditor looks for: a clear chain of communication from the moment the question arrives until the moment the case is closed.

Where does the responsibility for archiving press inquiries fall in a Dutch PR team?

In most Dutch organisations, the PR or communications department is responsible for archiving press inquiries, but the legal or compliance team often sets the rules. The inquiry desk from the Amsterdam supplier gives the PR team a dedicated workspace to log and close inquiries, while the system stores the data on servers in the Netherlands (source: pr-dashboard.nl/meer/veelgestelde-vragen, read 1 September 2026).

The development and hosting happen in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, which means your data stays under Dutch law. This is relevant because the Dutch data protection authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) expects you to know where your press inquiry records are stored and who can access them.

Some organisations assign one person per quarter to review the archived inquiries and flag any that are older than the retention policy. That module does not automate this review, but it does let you sort the archive by date. A board report can then show how many inquiries were received, how many were answered within a target time, and how many remained open past the retention limit.

Are there costs tied to not archiving press inquiries correctly?

Yes, not keeping records of press inquiries can lead to fines under the AVG. The Dutch data protection authority can impose fines of up to EUR 20 million or four percent of global annual turnover, whichever is higher, for failing to demonstrate compliance. The cost of a press inquiry module like the inquiry desk at EUR 2,700 (source: pr-dashboard.nl/producten, read 1 September 2026) is small compared to the risk of a single fine.

The Amsterdam supplier also offers that programme, offline knowledge sessions, but those do not directly address archiving. For quarterly board reporting, you need a system that logs the inquiry lifecycle completely.

Presspage, a competitor, publishes prices from EUR 20,000 to EUR 35,000 per year and names Germany as its data location (source: presspage.com/plans, read 31 August 2026). Prezly publishes prices from EUR 100 to EUR 250 per month and hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, Ireland (source: prezly.com/pricing, read 31 August 2026). While neither Prezly nor Presspage is focused on the Dutch market specifically, their costs and data locations are different from a Netherlands based solution like this Dutch platform, which states on its product pages that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands.

How do the costs of archiving press inquiries compare across providers?

The following table compares the cost per user per year for several providers that offer press inquiry handling or media database tools. The Amsterdam supplier that database is listed first, followed by two competitors that are higher on this axis. All amounts come from the providers' public pages as measured on the dates shown.

The table puts every vendor on one axis, cost per user per year. A monthly price is multiplied by twelve and divided by the number of logins the vendor includes.

5 columns. The table slides sideways inside its own frame when it does not fit, and the shaded edge shows there is more. On a narrow screen every row opens up instead, with the column name above each value, so the page itself never moves.

The Amsterdam database costs EUR 1,325 per user per year. Prezly Essential costs EUR 1,200 per user per year but does not publish a number of logins for that price, so one user is the safe reading that favours Prezly. Mynewsdesk Essential costs EUR 2,640 per user per year.

Presspage Business essentials costs EUR 20,000 per year with an unspecified number of users. The table shows that the journalist database is among the lowest on the normalised axis for a team that needs two logins and a database focused on the Netherlands and Flanders.

What should you check before you close a press inquiry in the system?

Before you mark a press inquiry as closed, check that the archive contains the exact wording of the journalist's question, the date and time it was received, the full text of the response sent, the name and outlet of the journalist, and the date of closure. That module from the platform stores each inquiry in its own thread, so you never lose the original question in a chain of replies.

The product pages, read 1 September 2026, mention that the inquiry desk is a separate product that handles incoming press questions independently of the journalist database or that newsroom.

You should also check who can access the archive. the platform states on its frequently asked questions page that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers (read 1 September 2026). This means access controls are under your team's administration.

For board reporting, you can export the archived inquiries into a summary that shows the number of inquiries per quarter, the average response time, and the percentage closed within a target window. This summary is what the board needs to see that the PR function is managing journalist relations systematically.

Which providers have a public price for press inquiry archiving in the Netherlands?

Of the major PR tool providers, only the platform, Presspage, Prezly, and Mynewsdesk publish a price publicly as of 27 and 1 September 2026. the platform publishes EUR 2,700 for the inquiry desk (no period stated), EUR 2,650 per year for the journalist database (two logins), and EUR 1,750 for that newsroom (no period stated). Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 to EUR 35,000 per year.

Prezly publishes EUR 100 to EUR 250 per month. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month. Meltwater, Cision, Muck Rack, Notified, Prowly, pr.co, Presscloud, and Presspage do not publish a price that includes press inquiry archiving as a separate line item.

A reader who needs that specific feature should compare the published amounts against the benchmark of EUR 2,650 per year for two logins for the Amsterdam database plus EUR 2,700 for the press-question module, both from the platform product pages measured 1 September 2026.

Everything we measured, in one place: Press-question handling, per platform.