Records Management Policy Could Have Spared White House Embarrassing Probe
The White House found itself in a world of hurt recently when a Federal judge gave unprecedented access to White House emails to a citizens watchdog group. Records Management expert – Data Empowerment Group CEO Tom Utiger – explains why this White House dilemma justifies corporate "preventative" compliance with new Federal Evidentiary Rules of Discovery.
The President and the White House could have been spared a Federal Judge's order to allow a citizens' watchdog group to sift through archived emails if they had an up-to-date records management policy in place, according to industry leader Tom Utiger, the author of "Records & Information Management Risk Assessment."
"A Federally compliant records management policy," Utiger explained, "would have eliminated the justification used by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and this watchdog group to go pouring through White House Emails."
Utiger, a widely-published Records & Information Management (RIM) leader and founder /CEO of Data Empowerment Group, is the holder of several seminal pending patents in this fast-emerging field. He has written trade journal articles for banking and legal trade publications, and conducts frequent seminars for C-Level executives, on the importance and the process of RIM compliance in today's litigious society.
In an unprecedented ruling, Judge Kollar-Kotelly is allowing Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to gather review email-retention information from the White House Office of Administration, which is in charge of preserving e-mail. Without an effective RIM policy in place, the White House was subject to the court-ordered independent audit.
"While only an official embarrassment to the White House," Utiger said, "this kind of ruling could well be a catastrophic nightmare for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company – instead of a citizens' watchdog group, a judge could unleash dissident shareholders or a plaintiff in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, as has happened recently to a major New York City bank."
Corporations' email retention policies are guided by the new Federal Evidentiary Rules for Discovery (www.uscourts.gov/rules/EDiscovery_w_Notes.pdf). The only safe RIM solution – for corporations – is a comprehensive, compliance-oriented records management policy, one that covers both traditional paper records, but includes computer files, emails and even voice mail messages. Penalties for non-compliance can be devastating, financially and operationally.
"Along with this compliance-oriented policy," Utiger said, "companies need the technology in place to manage those records; and, when a record – under the policy – has outlived its usefulness, to delete and destroy those records in all media.
"This aspect of records management is particularly challenging," Utiger pointed out. "Like emails, personal voice mail messages – though often thought to exist only on handheld devices – in fact, also "live on" in computer databases. They have no more privacy than other records. They are discoverable – and need to be governed by a comprehensive RIM policy."
About Data Empowerment Group
Data Empowerment Group – is a records and data management innovator and global provider of integrated enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. DEG specializes in filling functionality gaps in existing records management systems, as well as in solving records and data management challenges through its innovative content integration software and workshops. The Company's programs work in collaboration with existing ECM platforms, enabling a fully integrated records and data management protocol that unifies client employee processes, increasing clients' competitive edge by reducing operating costs and liability, and improving efficiency.
CEO Tom Utiger holds several pending patents, and is the author of "Records & Information Management Risk Assessment" and a host of journal articles. He frequently speaks at conferences and seminars on Records & Information Management (RIM).
SOURCE: Data Empowerment Group