There are advantages, however, to retaining "data" as a plural word.

They are small, re-recordable, and able to retain data without power.

It is against our human rights for the police/government to retain such data.

Non-volatile memory devices retain data without a continuous supply of power.

Flash memory devices retain data when the power is activated.

Amazon is known to retain extensive data on customer transactions.

Google is also known to retain data on searches, and other transactions.

We shall debate the content of proposals to retain personal data.

The directive states that retained data can only be accessible to the competent national authorities.

Evidently this means that retained data cannot be used by companies or private individuals.