Annex AF: Example Discovery Assessment

ARCS v1.0

STANDARD ANNEX AF

March 2026 | Informative Annex

Classification: Tier 1 / Standard Annex / Informative

Standard Annex AF: Example Discovery Surface Assessment

Illustrative Assessment per Section 9 (Informative)

This annex provides an example discovery surface assessment. The format follows Standard Annex F. Legal counsel should review actual discovery assessments.

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Record Surface Custodian Subpoena Discoverable Notes Class ID Risk

Prompt text S-01 Provider High Yes Provider logs retained 30d

Output text S-01 Provider High Yes Provider logs retained 30d

Tenant chat S-03 Operator High Yes Tenant DB 90d retention

User export S-04 User High Yes User possession

API logs S-02 Provider Medium Yes 30d retention

Monitoring S-06 Cloud Medium Yes Infrastructure logs 90d

Feedback S-07 Provider High Yes Review system 1y copy

Eval sample S-08 Provider High Yes Evaluation dataset 1y

Document S-09 Operator High Yes Derived record copy

Email copy S-10 Operator High Yes Derived record

Backup S-11 Cloud Medium Yes 90d backup retention

Archive S-12 Operator Medium Yes 1y archive retention

Plugin log S-13 Vendor Unknown Unknown Vendor retention unknown

Agent trace S-14 Provider Medium Yes Agent runtime 30d

Tool output S-15 Vendor Unknown Unknown Vendor retention unknown

Support S-16 Provider High Yes Support system 1y ticket

Snapshot S-17 Cloud Medium Yes 7d snapshot

Cache S-18 Cloud Low Unknown TTL-based

Export file S-19 Operator High Yes Derived record

Unknown S-20 Unknown Unknown Unknown Treated as present vendor

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Assessment rules applied per Section 9: unknown treated as present; vendor records treated as reachable; backup treated as retained; derived records included; volume not a defense; UI deletion ignored unless verified for all surfaces.

AF.1 Risk Indicators

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Factor Effect on Discovery Cost

More surfaces Higher review cost

More vendors More custodians to coordinate

Longer retention Longer exposure window

Feedback enabled More copies in review systems

Agent runtime More intermediate logs

Backups present Persistence beyond primary deletion

Derived documents Records outside operator control

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ARCS v1.0 | Annex AF: Example Discovery Surface Assessment | March 2026 | Informative