I believe we all know what the beta schedule road map states
"- Characters created during this phase will be carried over to the official release."
and
"* Circumstance may necessitate the deletion of character data"
But what OP is asking is.. something along the lines of what this is saying.

Originally Posted by
Reinheart
snip.

Originally Posted by
Triairy
snip
"However, before the official service start we will be releasing a benchmark software which allows character creation which can import ver 1.x character data. So if you would like to import your data, please remember to keep the character data stored in FFXIV folder under My Documents > My Games > FINAL FANTASY XIV (default)"
One can assume character progress while another could assume character feature data (used in the character creation screen.) What the OP is asking is which.. Will we be keeping our character feature data, and our progress data, or just our feature data?
(because as you saw Triairy is referring to character data being just the characters feature data.)
If they are the same:
If they are in fact the same thing, (all the data is both progress and features) then whoever deleted FFXIV 1.0 will not keep their progress. In which case, there will be a major rage fest unleashed. (because Yoshida gave the "ok" to delete the FFXIV 1.0 client, which contained the data as did Triairy in his OP.)
If They are different:
If they are different then its only character feature data, meaning what you are importing is just the features or "looks" of the character not its progress data. Thus, whoever deleted FFXIV 1.0 client is safe, except they cannot import data for the benchmark (which isnt a big deal) but this also means that the data referred to as "character data" in the ARR schedule is just the "feature" and "looks" data used during character creation (not its progression being carried over into release.)