SPR Bulletin NO. 1-99 February 16, 1999
REVISED AND REISSUED
May 21, 2003
TO: Public Records Custodians
SUBJECT: Electronic mail
EXPIRATION DATE: Until superseded
PURPOSE: This bulletin supersedes SPR Bulletin No. 5-92 and provides information
and requirements for the management and disposition of electronic mail
sent and received by public officials.
BACKGROUND:
Electronic mail (email) is a document created, transmitted and received
by a computer system or other electronic form of written communication.
Like the telephone, email allows instant communication. Like traditional
mail, it creates a durable written record of messages delivered and received.
Email use has grown rapidly and it has emerged as a major means for both
communication and business activities in all segments of society.
Messages sent by email vary in substance and content. It may contain formal
or informal data and text used supporting or executing business activities
and policy decisions. The growth of email and the importance of the messages
it carries, make it imperative that government offices take steps to effectively
manage and control this medium.
FINDINGS:
1. For the purpose of this bulletin, email is defined as any message created
and received on an electronic mail system. An electronic mail system is
a service that provides facilities for creating messages, transmitting
them through a network and displaying them on a recipient’s computer
terminal. The email message may be text or word processing documents,
spreadsheets or other data compilations transmitted through such a system.
2. All email created or received by an employee of a government unit
is a public record. In Massachusetts, the term "public record"
is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data created
or received by any officer or employee of any governmental unit, regardless
of physical form or characteristics. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). Email is,
therefore, a public record and it is subject to the requirements of the
Public Records Law. G. L. c. 66.
3. All email messages are subject to public access and disclosure through
the provisions of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 66, § 10.
4. All email messages may be sought and obtained through the discovery
process in litigation and may be admissible as evidence in a court of
law.
5. In most cases, simply deleting a message does not actually ‘delete’
the message. The "delete" key merely removes the electronic
pointers to the file. The actual file may remain on the computer system
indefinitely unless it is properly expunged from the system. Questions
regarding that process should be addressed to your systems administrator.
Copies of messages may also be retained independently on system backups.
Regardless of the intent to delete the message, as long as it exists,
it continues to be subject to discovery.
6. Although email is analogous to paper correspondence, the courts have
found that there are indeed, differences between the two records. The
contextual data (the "envelope" that contains the mailing address,
date/time stamp, routing instructions and transmission and receipt information)
that accompanies email messages constitutes an integral part of the record
and thus must be retained as a part of any printed or stored version of
the record. Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President, 810 F.Supp.
335 (D.D.C. 1993).
7. Email systems are a corporate resource. Email systems in use in government
offices are government property installed and maintained for the conduct
of government business. The office may and should exercise control over
the use of the resource by employees and has the right to monitor and
read employee email.
ACTIONS:
1. Any employee or officer of the Commonwealth who creates or receives
an email message must review said message for content. Once a determination
has been made regarding the subject matter involved in the communication,
the employee or officer must consult the retention schedules for his\her
agency or municipality in order to determine the lifecycle of that particular
record. Necessary and proper records management procedures must then be
implemented to ensure that the record is preserved for the proscribed
retention period. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a-m).
2. Email must be managed as a part of the office’s records holdings.
Email messages are subject to the same records management principles as
all other records of the office. Records retention schedules issued by
the Supervisor of Public Records (for local governments) and by the Records
Conservation Board (for state government offices) must be implemented
for email as well as for analogous paper records.
3. Email systems are not record-keeping systems. All email users must
screen and evaluate email messages according to “CONTENT”.
4. Once the CONTENT or subject matter of the message is determined, the
user must consult their agency’s record retention schedule and the
Statewide Disposition Schedule (for State Agencies) or the Records In
Common Schedule (for municipalities) to determine how long the record
must be preserved.
5. Once the applicable retention period has been determined, the user
should print out the email message and file it in accordance with the
entity’s paper filing system procedures.
6. Email messages which are too large to print or do not print accurately
should be stored electronically, again depending upon content and retention
period. These messages should be saved to the office’s electronic
record-keeping system. Please consult your agency’s Record Liaison
officer, computer technical people or your systems engineer for assistance
in this regard.
7. All government offices must establish written policies regarding their
email systems. Said policies must ensure that their system is capable
of displaying and preserving the contextual data (metadata) associated
with the email message to ensure the capture and preservation of a complete
record. Any email message which is printed to preserve content must contain
the metadata in its complete form.
8. Government offices must ensure that all personnel who will be handling
email are properly trained to insure compliance with this policy.
QUESTIONS:
Public Records Division
1 Ashburton Place, Room 1719
Boston, MA 02108
Phone 617-727-2832
Fax 617-727-5914
Web www.sec.state.ma.us/pre
Records Management Unit
State Archives at Columbia Point
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
Phone 617-727-2816
Fax 617-288-8429
Email recman@sec.state.ma.us
Web www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu
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