A method and system for offloading assets from a portable electronic device to a long-term storage location. One exemplary embodiment provides a system, which includes an asset management controller, including an electronic processor. The electronic processor is configured to receive, from the portable electronic device, an asset upload request, which request includes at least one device status indicator and an asset manifest, which manifest includes at least two asset identifiers and associated metadata. The electronic processor is configured to determine, based on the asset manifest and the at least one device status indicator, whether to grant or deny each of the asset identifiers, and to determine at least one storage message based on the asset upload request, which message includes one of a grant and deny for each of the asset identifiers. The electronic processor is configured to transmit, to the portable electronic device, the at least one storage message.