1. John L. Baines OIT Security and Compliance E-mail Retention: Preserving Public Records

2. Agenda Public Records E-mail Background Unit Public Record Retention Management Practices Non-Records Material Save or Delete? - What Constitutes a Public Record? E-mail Evidence in Courts E-mail Custodian Help for Custodian The OIT Archival Repository of E-mail Personal E-mail Accounts Handling E-mail October 19, 2009 2 E-mail Retention Overview

3. Public Records (PR) E-mail Background North Carolina Public Records Act, N.C.G.S. 132-1N.C.G.S. 132-1 Public Records: Are the property of the people of North Carolina Must be presented upon their request May not be deleted or otherwise altered or disposed of except in accordance with the University General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule and optional Unit Specific Addenda It is everyone’s responsibility to keep all work-related electronic records (including e-mail) 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 3

4. Unit PR Retention Mgt. Practices Much broader than just e-mail Includes electronic records stored on disk as well as e-mail. Generally, university units are responsible for: Establishing appropriate record retention management practices Appointing a records manager who ensures that: Unit public records are retained and disposed of in accordance with the University General Record Schedule and Unit Specific Addenda Access to confidential university records and information is restricted Records with historical value are delivered to the University Archivist Accurate records of destruction or transfer activity are maintained 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 4

5. Non-Records Material Personal records Limited family or personal communications allowed so long as no interference with work No privacy guarantee Delete to protect privacy at user discretion Spam - electronic junk mail Unsolicited and unwanted Filter or delete immediately Unsolicited e-mails Unwanted, but somewhat business related Miscellaneous newsletters Non-work related announcements Legitimate advertisements Etc. Delete in a timely manner 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 5

6. Retention of Public Records (PR) Short-term records are temporary in nature. Examples include communications received from professional list- servers and broad announcements received by all employees. Can be deleted when no longer useful. Long-term records have significant value to the agency but do not need to be maintained permanently. They are the focus of this presentation. Permanent records are records that have lasting historical value because they document or constitute evidence of state policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions. Physically transmitted to and held by the University archivist. 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 6

7. Save or Delete? FILE IT Issues policy States decisions Outlines procedures Gives guidance Shows action Processes transaction Is unique If in doubt… TOSS IT Reservations for travel Confirms appointments Transmits other documents without comment Personal messages Spam Unsolicited messages Etc. 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 7

8. E-mail Evidence in Courts E-mail has become the primary business communication medium for most organizations: Inside an organization or between organizations E-mail establishes the time and date of a written communication between an originator and one or more recipients Often documents are attached to e-mail which provides the document version that was transmitted at a specific date and time E-mail informal writing style More informal than most other written communications Can lead to inadvertent or unguarded exposure of information 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 8

9. E-mail Custodian Custodian must be able to present all work-related e-mail of a non-transient nature: Those you create (to recipients inside or outside university) Those you receive from external sources (outside the university) Individual “custodian” is responsible for presenting records in response to legitimate requests : Public records requests (e.g. press, media or individual citizens) University litigation discovery requests (preparatory to court cases) Subpoenas (e.g. court evidence) 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 9

10. Help for Custodian Custodian is responsible for e-mail retention and presentation, BUT must not go it alone! Coordinate all requests through Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) Establish legitimacy of request Legal aspects Privacy aspects Office of Information Technology (OIT) to assist in accessing e-mail archive 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 10

11. The OIT Archival Repository of E-mail Automatic for university (OIT-provided) e-mail systems: GroupWise Potentially university GoogleApps Characteristics: Copied as e-mails are: Created internally within the university Received by the university from external originators Unalterable Searchable by name, content, date, etc. E-mails retained for maximum PR retention period 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 11

12. Personal E-mail Accounts E.g. Yahoo, Road Runner, MSN, AOL, etc. Not supported by the University E-mail to/from personal e-mail addresses is not automatically archived by the university E-mail stored on personal e-mail accounts not available to the university for records requests All university-business e-mail messages must be stored in the University archival repository E.g. Custodian forwards to the university e-mail system 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 12

13. Handling E-mail Everyday business purposes Save as you see fit Retrieve from disk copy or e-mail on-line folders Delete as you see fit E-mail archive – Authoritative source of PR e-mail OLA will establish legitimacy of request OIT will provide access for individual custodians to their own e-mails in the archive and facilitate the process Normally, custodian will recover e-mails Unit will recover if custodian unavailable or un-cooperative OLA will handle privacy aspects and present e-mails for specific request 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 13

14. References Department of Cultural Resources, State Archives (State Government Authority) http://www.records.ncdcr.gov/erecords/Email_Policy.pdf University General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/universityarchives/retentionschedules/UNCGenSch14062007OCR.pdf Two regulations in process of review and update: Public Records Regulation Proposed Revision to REG01.25.12 - University Record Retention & Disposition Regulation E-mail Retention Regulation Proposed Revision to REG08.00.9 - University E-mail Retention 9/30/2009 E-mail Retention Primer 14

15. Questions?