What is zero data retention in web scraping?
Zero data retention (ZDR) means the scraping provider never writes scraped content, request URLs, or response payloads to disk. Each request is processed in memory and discarded the moment the response is returned, so no trace of what you retrieved remains on the provider's infrastructure. This is distinct from standard data handling, where providers retain logs and temporarily cache responses for debugging, billing, and performance optimization.
| Factor | Standard data handling | Zero data retention |
|---|---|---|
| Scraped content stored | Temporarily on provider servers | Never persisted |
| Request logs | Retained for billing and debugging | Minimized or not retained |
| Compliance surface | Requires vendor DPA review | Reduces third-party data exposure |
| Debugging support | Full logs available | Limited post-request visibility |
| Availability | All tiers | Enterprise plans |
ZDR matters when the content you are scraping is itself sensitive: internal documents behind authentication, healthcare pricing pages, legal databases, financial filings, or any data subject to GDPR, HIPAA, or similar frameworks. Standard scraping APIs log requests and may cache responses; ZDR removes those retention surfaces entirely. If your legal or security team has flagged third-party data handling as a compliance risk, ZDR is the control that addresses it.
Firecrawl supports ZDR as an enterprise option across scrape, crawl, and search endpoints. Contact alex@firecrawl.dev to enable ZDR for your team.
data from the web