Hi Caroline et al,
In the US there is some discussion over the idea that electronic records
that have been deleted should be treated similarly to those analog records
that have been shredded or taken to the dump. In other words, just because
there exist technologies that can forensically recover records does not mean
that should be the norm. The Sedona Conference is in the process of
finalizing guidelines that argue for treating deleted records as
unrecoverable and unresponsive to litigation except in those instances where
there is question of destruction of evidence. The US Federal Rules of
Evidence and Federal Rules for Civil Procedures are similarly considering
this question. On a related note, both Sedona and the FRE/FRCP are also
considering rules that would identify backups as just that, allowing for
much shorter retention periods (only the time required for business
continuity purposes) and not requiring their provision for discovery, again
unless evidence of spoliation exists.
I don't know that this is strictly pertinent to you, however I bring it up
because it is a means of addressing the staggering costs (both money and
time/effort) of responding to requests for discovery of electronic
information. If similar efforts are not underway over there, I think one
could make a compelling argument for them....
Cheers,
Jesse Wilkins
CDIA+, LIT, EDP, ICP
IMERGE Consulting
(303) 574-1455 office
(303) 484-4142 fax
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http://www.imergeconsult.com
Yahoo!: jessewilkins8511
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>-----Original Message-----
>From: The UK Records Management mailing list
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Caroline
>Dominey
>Sent: 18 March 2005 11:46
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Deletion of Records
>
>I recently attended a demonstration of an Electronic Document Management
>System and was surprised to find out that there was no way of deleting
>documents from the system. You could 'delete' the record so that it was
>no longer accessible via the standard front end however the records was
>still there are could be restored if necessary.
>
>Is this standard practice? It seems to me that we would need to delete
>records in order to comply with Data Protection legislation?
>
>I would be interested to hear whether others are using similar systems
>or whether there are systems that allow 'full deletion.'
>
>Thanks
>Caroline
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