Protecting and Preserving Critical Records for Leading Trust

A leading cemeteries trust responsible for managing nine cemetery locations, funeral services, and heritage preservation required a sophisticated data governance solution to protect sensitive information and ensure compliance with strict legal and regulatory obligations. The trust selected Castlepoint to safeguard burial records, enforce secrecy provisions, and enable a seamless transition from on-premises data storage to a secure cloud-first model.

The Challenge

The trust oversees cemetery services while also preserving historically and culturally significant records. These records contain sensitive personal data and burial information, which are subject to legal obligations under multiple Acts. Managing compliance with the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act and the Privacy and Data Protection Act was complex, requiring strict governance and security controls. Ensuring that sensitive records remained protected while still being accessible for heritage preservation was a key concern, particularly as unauthorised access could result in civil or criminal penalties. The organisation also needed to transition from an on-premises environment to a cloud-first model without compromising security, compliance, or operational efficiency.

The Solution

Castlepoint was first deployed on-premises to catalogue and classify all existing records. Once all data had been securely indexed, the complete Castlepoint Information Asset Register was migrated to the trust’s new cloud-based environment. The implementation provided:

  • AI-powered classification and sentencing, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory obligations
  • Automated records disposal schedules, reducing data retention risks while maintaining necessary records
  • Secrecy provision enforcement, automatically identifying content subject to legal restrictions
  • Comprehensive data protection and auditing, ensuring secure, monitored access to all records
  • Agentless management across both on-premises and cloud environments
  • Long-term preservation and protection of heritage records, securing historically significant data for future generations

Castlepoint’s Explainable AI provided full transparency in records classification, ensuring the trust could maintain compliance while improving operational efficiency.

The Outcome

By modernising its data governance approach, the trust achieved greater security, compliance, and operational efficiency while ensuring the long-term protection of critical records. With Castlepoint, the organisation has full oversight of its data, allowing it to meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk exposure, and enhance the preservation of historical and cultural assets.

  • 27.9 million items actively managed, ensuring security and compliance
  • 4,000 separate systems registered, providing complete visibility over its data estate
  • 111 million key phrases extracted from over 380,000 records, improving searchability and discovery
  • Seamless cloud migration, preserving historical records while enabling modern data governance practices
  • Enhanced legal compliance, ensuring records subject to secrecy provisions are automatically identified and secured
  • Long-term data protection, maintaining cultural and heritage values while meeting contemporary security and privacy requirements

The trust now has a future-proof, AI-driven data governance framework that not only protects personal and legal records but also upholds the cultural significance of burial and heritage information.

“Remembrance is essential to our communities, and preserving records of burials is a vital part of local culture.”
Rachael Greaves, CEO, Castlepoint

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