An information processing apparatus and an information processing method are capable of correctly selecting data to be deleted, without a user having to perform a troublesome operation. In a backup operation, a determination is made for each image file as to whether a predetermined condition is satisfied. If the condition is satisfied, image files are backed up, and storage priority levels defined for these image files are reduced in accordance with a rule predefined by a user. The storage priority level is a measure indicating the priority of keeping an image file in a storage unit. The higher the storage priority, the lower the probability that image files are deleted. The storage priority levels are changed depending on whether image files have been backed up and depending on the number of times image files were backed up.