Managing email as a record

1. Managing email as a record Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

2. Definition of a record - PRA • ‘A record or class of records, in any form, in whole or in part, created or received (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) by a public office in the conduct of its affairs’ • ‘A record or a class of records, in any form, in whole or in part, created or received (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) by a local authority in the conduct of its affairs’ Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

3. Definition of a record – PRA (2) • ‘…information, whether in its original form or otherwise, including (without limitation) a document, a signature, a seal, text, images, sound, speech, or data compiled, recorded, or stored, as the case may be,— (a) in written form on any material; or (b) on film, negative, tape, or other medium so as to be capable of being reproduced; or (c) by means of any recording device or process, computer, or other electronic device or process’ Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

4. Email is a record • "All email messages created using Australian government systems are Commonwealth records and must be managed in accordance with the Archives Act 1982” NAA • In United States context - records are only a record when they are declared - but this mindset is changing • In Australasian context - "guilty of being a record until proven innocent" approach Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

5. Subtle distinctions • What makes one particular email a record, versus what makes emails as such a record • Defining information as a record doesn't confer permanent retention status Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

6. Types of email • GDA 3 – Emails that can be routinely disposed of: • personal correspondence • circulated information received for information only • trivial work related material (such as reminder notes and room bookings) • copies of records already in the record keeping system, and • copies of documents kept for reference purposes only Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

7. Types of email (NAA) • Records required for ongoing business:Transactions that provide evidence of your business activities, e.g. directives, development of policy issues • Records of ephemeral value:Information messages with a business context but not part of a a business transaction, e.g. notification of a meeting or a general notice to staff, and persona or social messages Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

8. Types of email (PROV) • Personal email – email which is of a personal nature and which has no relevance to the business of the agency • Ephemeral email – email which is used to facilitate agency business but which does not need to be retained for business purposes • Corporate email – email which relates to the business of the agency and which must be retained as a record Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

9. Examples of records that happen to be emails • Contract variation agreement • Decision to buy software • Clarification • Summary of a work phone conversation • Advice on legislation, policy... • Ministers of the Crown asking for policy advice… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

10. So which type is your email? • Context may only become apparent over time • Your first decision may be the wrong decision • You might want to hang about a bit… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

11. Issues with maintaining email as a record over time Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

12. Where is that email? • Personal email folders • Shared email folders • EDRMS • Vault • ISP provider(s) • Yours • Theirs • Passing through routers, generating logs Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

13. Who is managing the email as a record in your organisation? • The owner(s)/recipient(s) • The Vault Manager • The Records Manager • None of the above …… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

14. What is the storage format of the email? • Native format • PST files • other? • non-proprietary? Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

15. What stops people saving emails into another system? • Decision about whether this email has value • Save what? • email + attachments as one item - if you want to preserve the full context • save only the attachment if want to edit the document • do both if you want to both preserve and edit • Timing - when is the best time to save "it" - especially with threads • Changes of subject in the middle of a thread • Several different subjects in the same email Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

16. What stops people saving emails (2) • Time taken save emails • Vs time (probably someone else’s) to retrieve and sift through all of them later • Format change so can't re-use it • Not knowing if you are the person who should be saving it • Wondering if it is already in there • Print and file? Yeah, right… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

17. One problem… • People treat email (and instant messaging) as if it is a conversational tool • They overlook that they have put something in writing and sent it to someone else, who may… • Forward it • Save it • Print it Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

18. All email is discoverable • What level of understanding do you/your users have to have? • Internal to your organisation, the technology can find it • On back up tapes • On the server hard drives • On your hard drive - depending on your set up • On your PST files if you have been creating them • In the email boxes of the people you sent it to….. Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

19. AND/OR it has escaped into the universe • Your ISP's server/your organisation's server • The recipients ISP servers/organisations servers • Routers • Server logs, router logs • US intelligence agencies are fighting in the American courts to force ISPs to keep records of emails (but not YET the content) Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

20. Legislative and litigation environment • United States • Companies in the United States are subject to punitive penalties in the region of millions of dollars where the courts suspect them of spoliation, e.g. destruction of all emails >60 days old • Australia • Victoria Australia Crimes (Document Destruction) Act 2006 which covers both “willful and negligent” destruction • New Zealand • Commerce Commission vs.. Telecom NZ Ltd - costs of discovery are significant and can be shared, US approach is precedent setting Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

21. US litigants are interested in "everything" • Sixth Circuit to Review Order Striking Warrantless Examination of E-Mail MessagesThe Sixth Circuit will soon hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of a federal law that allows the government to access and review stored e-mail messages without a warrant or notice to the account holder. Warshak v. United States, No. 06-4092 (6th Cir, 2006). • NCCUSL Promulgates Uniform E-Discovery Rules for State Courts (The National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws) • Source: Pike and Fischer Digital Discovery and e-Evidence: "News and Analysis" newsletter December 13, 2006 Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

22. How email ‘archiving’ systems fit into your organisation-wide records management programme OR Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

23. The Vaults Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

24. Vaults - a "simple" solution • Let's keep the lot! • Every email in/out of mail server • What problem(s) are you trying to solve? • Not a RK solution, a risk management solution • A solution for the organisation, • not for users, not for record keepers • Can users search for theirs? For other people's? • Eliminates “PEBKAC” from decision to retain • Definitive proof that you did/didn’t send/receive something Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

25. In solving the first problem, it creates another HUGE problem • The RETRIEVAL problem • You find too much and it takes too long - and lawyers are very expensive • If you've got n lawyers excavating a midden… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

26. Midden:a deposit of occupational debris, garbage, or other by-products of human activity Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

27. Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

28. Recordkeeping issues • Usability • Accessibility • Authenticity • Detect duplicates • Prevent tampering • Detect real sender identity vs. spoof • Preserve metadata: Dates, recipients, read status etc • Completeness • Comprehensiveness • Retention… Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

29. What's wrong with keeping all the emails forever? • Privacy legislation • Personal emails caught up • Emails separated from rest of the organisation's records, so the other records are destroyed but the emails are kept… • Burden of retention • Burden of retrievability • The bigger the basement..... Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

30. What's wrong with keeping all the emails forever? (2) • The disposal problem • No, you can't delete them all after 60 days - spoliation • It's back and it's worse • because it's all just email separated from other business records • Needs a better model Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

31. Applying a recordkeeping framework to email Get there one “step” at a time Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

32. Best approach to records management • Be explicit about • What is created/received • How it should be managed • Be deliberate in what you do • Best approach • Have clear policies • Follow them • Worst approach • Have clear policies • But don’t follow them Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

33. Key elements • "Create and maintain" mantra • Have explicit policies and procedures • Yes, something else for staff to pay attention to… • What problems is your email policy intended to solve? • Develop rules for saving threads and emails with/without attachments • The role of good practice/etiquette Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

34. Classifying email • What is the most important thing in recordkeeping? • Context, context, context • "Best efforts approach“ Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

35. If you have an EDRMS…. • And you have the time, and you have the inclination then there's no problem • EDRMS are recordkeeping systems • Save an email into the correct folder with all the other electronic stuff in there - documents, photos, voice recordings, text messages etc • You can still reply to/forward the email etc • The folder probably sets the retention • For emails you probably can't use document type to set retention • For attachments, you might be able to use document type for retention, e.g. Contract Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

36. If you have only a directory structure, you probably won't save the email into it Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

37. How can you classify email in personal email folders? • Set up a standard folder pattern • to match other classification structures……. • Run email rules to auto move into standard folders • If from x organisation, put into x folder "drag and drop" • Put Job/project numbers into subject, use rules to move emails containing job number into preset folder • External system could harvest/copy • from those standard folders • Ideally it would mark them as copied • User can tag all emails in a folder and manually put them into the EDRMS/directory in a batch Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

38. Applying retention and disposal rules to email stored in email systems Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

39. Musts • Be able to link to a disposal authority • Show that normal business processes were applied • Be able to show how destruction is done • Do you keep a record of the destruction? And where do you keep that? • Have a documented backup regime, with implications for disposal spelled out clearly • Must be rules based, ‘if, then…’ Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

40. Transfer emails of archival value • Out of the email system? • No safe place for a record..... • E-transfer equivalent to "print and file" • Have you destroyed/retained the context? • Copy, not move? • All relevant emails moved to another context-holding repository, e.g. EDRMS or a data warehouse • Permanent storage • Retrievable, non-proprietary format • VERS compliant/metadata? Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

41. Summary/key themes • Email is a transmission tool, not a document type • Usual RK rules & tools apply • Not all emails are worth keeping, some must be destroyed • Assume your email is both public & distributed, and make sure everyone is aware of this • Have explicit policies and procedures • Context is the key to applying rules • Email vaults are not archiving/recordkeeping systems • Email systems are not recordkeeping systems Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

42. Summary/key themes (2) • Recordkeeping systems preserve the structure, context and content • Context-rich • Standard formats, retrievable/usable • Tamper-proof • Retention is rules-based • Destruction is itself a record and is rules-based • Hope (and pray) for improved auto-classification - in the public arena Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management

43. Thank you… Susan Skudder Director SWIM Ltd susan@swim.co.nz www.swim.co.nz Archives NZ Recordkeeping Forum - Email Records Management