The 'Stateless' Translation Revolution: Why Storage is the Enemy of Security

If you translate sensitive documents at work, the most dangerous failure mode isn’t “slightly wrong wording”. It’s data lingering after the job is done.

This post explains what a stateless translation service really is, what it must include to be credible, and how to evaluate vendors without reading 40 pages of legalese.

Why storage is the hidden risk surface

If a translation tool stores your files (or even just enough metadata to recreate them), you now have:

• A retention policy you need to trust
• A support process you need to trust
• A breach you need to hope never happens

For regulated content, “we keep it for troubleshooting” isn’t a neutral detail. It’s a liability.

The quick take

A stateless translation service aims for one outcome:

After the translation is done, there should be nothing useful left to steal.

Practically, that usually means:

• The service does not keep a “recent translations” history
• Download links expire quickly
• Files are deleted automatically after a short window
• Document content is not stored in logs or analytics

If a vendor can’t clearly explain their retention window and deletion behavior, they aren’t stateless in the way security teams mean it.

What “stateless” really means (and what it doesn’t)

“Stateless” is often used loosely. In practice, you want to separate three things:

1) No account history

No dashboard that lists what your team translated last week. No “recover my previous job” button.

This is user-visible and easy to verify.

2) No content logs

A service can delete files and still leak content via:

• Application logs
• Error reports
• Analytics events
• Support tooling

This is rarely visible. You need to ask directly.

3) Short, explicit retention for files-in-flight

Even stateless services usually need temporary storage while a job runs. The question is: how long, and what happens automatically.

If you’re evaluating any tool for EU workloads, keep GDPR’s “storage limitation” principle in mind (GDPR overview).

A safe stateless workflow you can actually use

Here’s a simple workflow that keeps “stateless” from being theoretical:

Step 1: Classify the document (fast)

• Public / non-sensitive: general tools are fine
• Internal but low-risk: use a tool with clear retention controls
• Sensitive (PII, HR, legal, finance, IP): prefer short retention + “no training” + clear region controls

If you need a broader decision map, start here: Which translation services should I use for sensitive documents?

Step 2: Reduce what you upload (when feasible)

You don’t need perfect redaction to improve outcomes.

• Remove pages that don’t need translation
• Split out exhibits / annexes
• Consider masking identifiers when they’re not required for meaning

Step 3: Treat downloads as the “end of life” event

Make it part of your SOP:

• Download immediately
• Move output into your controlled storage (DMS / ticket / case file)
• Don’t rely on the translation service as a document repository

This is the tradeoff: less convenience, less risk.

Common mistakes (and how to spot them early)

“Stateless” but with a dashboard

If there is a history view, the service is storing something. That might be fine. It’s just not stateless.

“Deleted” without defining what deleted means

Some vendors mean “not visible to you anymore”. Others mean “hard deleted with no recovery”.

If you care, you need the definition and the retention window in writing.

Region controls that only apply to storage (or only to processing)

Ask separately:

• Where is the file stored?
• Where is it processed?
• Where can logs/support systems access it from?

Vendor checklist: questions that reveal the truth fast

Ask these and insist on plain answers:

1. Retention: How long are originals and outputs kept by default?
2. Deletion: Is deletion automatic? Can users trigger immediate deletion?
3. Logs: Do you store document content in logs, analytics, or support tools?
4. Access: Who inside the vendor can access documents (and under what conditions)?
5. Region: Can you guarantee EU-only storage and processing?
6. Training: Is customer content used to train or evaluate models?

If you want the “how we do it” version, these pages are the canonical reference:

• How your data is handled
• How noll works
• We don't want your data

Further reading

• GDPR overview
• Cloud Translation data usage
• Which translation services should I use for sensitive documents?
• Auto-deletion in translation tools
• No-account document translator
• Data residency in cloud translation