Trades, logistics & industry
Data backup for funeral homes, crematoria and cemeteries
Mindtime backs up the dossiers, registers, mail and photos of your funeral organisation to its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. Copies are immutable, one is air-gapped, and every backup job is checked by people who answer in Dutch, German or English.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Funeral homes and crematoria need backup because cremation and burial registers, family arrangements and service recordings cannot be recreated, and the Wet op de lijkbezorging requires registers to be kept. Mindtime backs up the PCs, NAS units and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace accounts that hold them, in its own Dutch and German data centres.
What's at stake
The data funeral homes and crematoria can't afford to lose
Cremation and burial registers
The register records who was cremated or buried and, for a crematorium, what happened to the ashes. Families come back to it years later to find a grave or trace an urn.
Arrangement dossiers
Wishes, next-of-kin details, orders for flowers, stationery and catering, and agreements with the family are gathered in a few intense days. There is no second chance to collect them.
Photos, eulogies and recordings
Slide shows, music lists, eulogies and recordings of the service are the most personal files you hold. If they are lost, the family feels it, not just the business.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of funeral homes and crematoria
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Cemetery register (article 27 Wlb)
The holder of a cemetery keeps a register of everyone buried there, with an accurate indication of where each grave is. The register is public, and when a cemetery closes it goes to the municipal archive. [1]
Crematorium register (article 50 Wlb)
The holder of a crematorium keeps a register of all cremations and of what was done with the ashes. The VNG points to articles 50 and 65 as the rules for recording what happens to urns and ashes. [2]
Urns kept for at least a month
After cremation, the crematorium keeps the urn for at least one month before the ashes are released, for example for scattering, burial or handing over to the family. [3]
GDPR and the deceased
According to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the GDPR does not apply to data of deceased persons. It does apply when that data also says something about a living person, such as a hereditary illness, and to the details of the next of kin you work with. [4]
Seven years for invoices and payroll
Invoices, purchase records and payroll fall under the Belastingdienst's seven-year retention period. [5]
When it goes wrong
A NAS that fails during the week
Illustrative example: a small funeral home keeps its arrangement dossiers and slide shows on a NAS in the office. The NAS fails while two services are being prepared. The staff restore the dossiers and the families' photos from Mindtime's backup to a replacement device, and both services go ahead with the music and images the families chose.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for funeral homes and crematoria, workload by workload
- Microsoft 365 backupArrangements with families, suppliers and venues run through Outlook and shared folders.
- Google Workspace backupSmaller funeral homes often use Gmail and Google Drive for dossiers and photos.
- NAS backupSlide shows, recordings and photo archives are large and usually live on a NAS.
- Laptop and endpoint backupLaptops taken to family visits hold notes and wishes before they reach the office.
- Database backupCrematorium and cemetery registers kept in a database need consistent, restorable copies.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| Arrangement dossiers (Word, Excel or an administration package) | If they are stored on a PC, NAS or server, Mindtime backs up that device. For a cloud package, check the supplier's export and retention terms. |
|---|---|
| Crematorium and cemetery registers | Often a database or spreadsheet on a local server. Mindtime backs up the server, the NAS or the database (SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle) where the register is kept. |
| Photos, music and service recordings | Large files on a NAS or in shared drives. Mindtime backs up Synology and QNAP NAS units, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. |
| Exact Online | For invoicing, Exact keeps the bookkeeping under its own terms. The mailboxes where invoices to families and suppliers are sent are covered by Mindtime's Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup. |
Before you switch
What funeral homes and crematoria ask us first
Our work is personal, not digital.
The care is personal, but the dossiers, registers and photos are digital. Mindtime backs them up quietly in the background and checks every backup job, so your team can stay with the families.
Where does the family's data go?
Only to Mindtime's own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, encrypted with AES-256 in transit. Audits for ISO 27001 and NEN 7510 apply, and a data processing agreement comes with every contract.
We're a small family business.
Small teams have the least time to spare after a lost NAS. Try Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup free for 7 days, or book a 15-minute demo to see what protecting your PCs and NAS involves.
FAQ
Questions about backup for funeral homes and crematoria
How long does a cemetery or crematorium register need to be kept?
The Wet op de lijkbezorging requires the register to be kept and, for cemeteries, transfers it to the municipal archive when the cemetery closes. Treat it as a permanent record: back it up off-site, test a restore now and then, and make sure more than one person knows how to reach the backup.
Does NIS2 apply to funeral homes or crematoria?
No. Funeral services and crematoria are not among the sectors listed in the Cyberbeveiligingswet, which implements NIS2 in the Netherlands from 15 August 2026. Good backups still matter for the registers you are required to keep and for the families who trust you with their memories.
Can Mindtime back up our livestream recordings?
If recordings are saved to a PC, NAS, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, yes. Mindtime backs up Windows and macOS PCs, Synology and QNAP NAS units and both cloud suites. Recordings held only on a streaming platform depend on that platform's retention, so download the files you want to keep.
What if ransomware encrypts our files?
Mindtime's backups are immutable under Object Lock and an air-gapped copy is kept separately, so the attacker cannot delete them. Before files go back, the backups are scanned for malware and restored in an isolated environment, so the dossiers you return to are clean.
How do we start?
Book a free 15-minute demo and tell us where your dossiers, registers and photos are kept. If you use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, the 7-day free trial lets you protect mail and shared files first. Mindtime has been doing this since 1998.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.