Hey Tony!
Thanks for raising this issue!
Not that I'm a legal expert, but if you are storing the information in a
repository that you either own (on site in shared drives or mobile shelves
for instance) or lease (off-site records for instance) then it would boil
down to holding that information and would be subject to FOIA. It's in the
possession of the organisation, they have it, the records are contained
within the concrete bounds of the organisation's actual property, so I think
that generally covers most records that organisations would 'hold'.
But what about a text or voice message on my personal cellphone from a
client that I've kept to provide evidence of an organisational transaction.
Or a work-related email in my Fastmail account that I was accessing whilst
on holiday. Does my organisation 'hold' this for FOIA purposes? Hmmm.
Since the transaction was work related, I guess the requestor could claim
the employer owned the record as it's intellectual property. But how do we
manage this sort of information? It's a real can of worms!
Look forward to further comment!
Adam Pope
Records Manager
Chief Executive's Department
Town Hall
Camden Borough Council
Phone: (020) 7974 3458
Mobile: 07748576211
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The UK Records Management mailing list
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Tony May
> Sent: 29 April 2004 10:11
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: FOI definition - what is held?
>
>
> Hi all
> The UK FOI act continually mentions information we hold,
> information held
> by an organisation. However it never defines the word "held".
>
> Has anyone obtained a definition of the word held?
>
> I am currently using the ISO 15489 definition of a record within our
> records management policy;
>
> Records ? information created, received and maintained as evidence or
> information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of
> legal obligations
> or in the transaction of business.
>
> To my mind this could be used as a definition of what is held by the
> organisation. However as "held" has not been defined I am
> looking for other
> opinions and thoughts.
>
> Please reply on list as I think this is a very interesting
> area and could
> create a good discussion.
>
> Thanks
> Tony May
> Documents Manager
> Hertfordshire County Council
> Phone: 01992 556 729
> Comnet 26729
>
>
>
>
>
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