To: Premier College Staff
From: Chief Information Officer Aaron Seda
Date: April 1, 2014
Subject: Document Retention Policy
Section 1: Purpose of the Policy
• The purpose of the issued document retention policy is to notify all staff of the Premier College to preserve all information whether it be electronic or tangible hard copy documentation, data, records contracts, and any correspondence documents that are related to the case established by the litigation hold. Preserving all these documents should be done in a manner is in compliance with federal laws in regards to preservation of intellectual material. To preserve the integrity of the data/information being held for litigation all documents should remain in the original state, they shall not be altered or modified in any manner
Section 2: Compliance of Administration and Employees
• All electronic data within the Information Technology systems of Premier College are pertinent evidence to the case delegated in the Litigation Hold. All employees and administrative personnel must take the proper measures set by federal regulations to preserve the integrity of all data or information stored on the systems. Data and information should be maintained, not altered in any manner, and not be discarded. The responsibilities of the administrator are to ensure that all employees are complying with the policy and tampering with any of the evidence that is to be preserved. Failure to comply with this policy and the regulations set out by federal guidelines will result in disciplinary action and possibly criminal charges. Any individual who knowingly withholds information and violates the provisions set by the policy can face multiple fines and face a potential of a decade of prison time. In the even that any employees do not comply with the policy or the litigation hold will be terminated for not complying. The privacy of all staff is very important as well and is the job of the Chief Information officer to speak with the legal team behind the litigation hold to determine the privacy laws set by federal regulations to protect individuals.
Section 3: Electronic Documents and Records
• In order to maintain the integrity of all electronic documents being preserved they must be held as a tangible paper document along with the electronic form of the document and time stamped. This keeps the integrity of the information by proving that there has been no information deleted or manipulated to the documents being held. All staff must also preserve any files stored on the servers and make sure there is no activity that could possibly delete any files that are pertinent to the case. All administrators should maintain the integrity of all the information being preserved. Any new information or data received during the process of the litigation is to be held and preserved along with the other preserved documentation.
Section 4: Suspending Document Destruction
• All document destruction done should be under the supervision of the IT department and an administrator. The reason for the supervision is to verify that no essential information or illicit activity is being deleted. During the time of an investigation or litigation all document destruction is to be suspended to make sure no documents pertinent to the investigation are deleted or disposed of. As stated by federal law any individual that destroys information knowing that the information is pertinent to the investigation will be held criminally liable for doing so. This criminal liability can include multiple fines or even a possible 10-20 year sentence for tampering with evidence.
Section 5: Emergency Plan
• In the event of an emergency all electronic documents are to have a hard copy to preserve the integrity of the electronic document. Having a tangible copy will keep data and information if there is a loss of the electronic documents being lost. All documents are to be stored in a remote location separate from the organization accessible to administrators and IT personnel. A document retention plan is put in place within this policy in the event that an emergency does happen.
Section 6: Document List and Retention Schedule
• This is a list of the relevant information needed for preservation as delegated by the Litigation Hold:
– E-mail or Correspondence documents
– Microsoft Office Documents
– PDF Files
– Digital Image files (JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIFF)
– TXT Files
– Databases
– Calendars
– Computer usage logs
– Internet usage files
• This data or information may come in many different forms whether it be through electronic communication, communication over the telephone that has been logged or recorded (voicemail), network access information folders, and internet usage files. This data may also be in many different devices or locations as well such as remote devices (smartphones, pda, tablets), USB, external hard drives, network servers, workstations, and laptops. All information pertinent to the Litigation Hold case should be preserved from each of these devices.
• Dependent on the type of information and/or data found the retention period may vary. All information and data allocated for preservation purposes should be maintained until the litigation hold is dismissed or the case is completed. Employees of the Premier college should follow federal guidelines for the retention of the different types of evidence. During a litigation hold electronic documents such as emails, correspondence documents, or any electronic transfer of documents in communication can be considered part of company record.
• To combat the issue of excess non-essential information emails should be filtered and removed every 30 days, this goes the same with voicemails as well. Electronic communication essential to the organization should be used for company record and kept permanently. Any electronic word files such as PDF, Word Docs, or TXT files that are essential to the organization should be kept permanently as company record, any other types of documents should be kept annually. Any information that is personal record to the staff should be kept securely 10 years following their departure of the company. Tax information and financial information should be kept permanently as company record.
For any questions regarding the document retention policy, contact me at aaronseda@yahoo.com.
Sincerely,
Aaron Seda
To: Premier College Staff
From: Chief Information Officer Aaron Seda
Date: April 1, 2014
Subject: Litigation Hold Notice
The purpose of this document is to notify that Premier College has received a notice of litigation, with this notice the college and the staff have been directed to preserve all documentation relevant to the case. Electronic data and information is extremely important to the evidence sought by this litigation. Due to the litigation, Premier College is required by law to ensure that all electronic data and documentation that is pertinent to the investigation should be acquired and preserved until told otherwise or until the litigation is closed. As stated previously in order to ensure compliance the assistance of all staff is required to participate in the preservation of the electronic data.
Directive to the Preservation of Electronic Data
Without Delay, all staff and administration must preserve all electronic data or information that is pertinent to case of litigation. The integrity of all information must be preserved as well, therefore data/information shall not be destroyed, manipulated, and or tampered with in any manner. Here is a list of the relevant information delegated by the litigation hold:
• E-mail and/or Electronic Correspondence
• Microsoft Office Documents
• PDF Files
• Digital Image Files
• TXT Files
• Databases
• Calendars
• Computer Usage Tools
• Internet Usage Files
• Electronic Files on the Server
This information may be on a number of different assets, such as:
• Workstations
• Removable Devices (USB, External Hard Drives)
• Network Servers
• Laptops
• PDA
• Media Devices
• Smart Phones
• Backup Tapes
• Electronic Correspondence (Voicemail, Recorded Correspondence)
Failure to preserve the data will result in legal action and possible termination to the individuals that chose to not comply. Any questions regarding whether information is pertinent to the litigation should be directed to the college attorney. All administrators should oversee that all documents are being preserved and that any activity that consist of possibly removing data ceases during the investigation process. Any functions that automatically delete data such as emails or other electronic material should be disabled as well, to assure no essential evidence is potentially deleted
Sincerely,
Chief Information Officer
Aaron Seda
Checklist of Procedure for the Litigation Hold Notice
To: Premier College Staff
From: Chief Information Officer Aaron Seda
Date: April 8, 2014
Subject: Checklist of Procedure
Premier College Staff,
Due to the notice of litigation received at the beginning of this month. I have created a checklist of the procedures to be followed by all staff members of Premier College. In order to ensure compliance with the litigation hold notice as you know all staff must preserve electronic data and information that is essential to the investigation. The checklist of procedure describes what all staff must do to preserve the integrity of the information and ensure compliance.
Premier College Employees:
• All electronic data and/or information must be preserved and maintained in their original format. All electronic data must be accompanied by a hard copy of the document or data to ensure the validity of the information, the hard copy should be time stamped as well.
• Any new electronic data/information collected during the investigation is to be preserved if the information is relevant to the litigation process. The new data should also have a hard copy accompanied with it as well.
• All information should be maintained and preserved until the litigation hold is has been lifted and the company has been approved to cease the retaining of the documentation.
• Do not manipulate, destroy, and or tamper with any electronic information as well. If any individual knowingly tampers with information legal action and termination will follow. All college employees must suspend any processes that delete or overwrite data. Also refrain from any normal procedures of deleting information unless approved by administrative personnel.
Administrative Personnel:
• Administrative personnel should oversee all document retention and ensure that all staff is complying with the litigation hold. If administrative personnel notices any suspicious behavior or removal of relevant documentation, they should report this activity to the Premier College Legal team.
• Administrative Personnel must also oversee the document retention policy as well, ensuring that the retention of the documentation is in accordance to the policy. The integrity of the data is extremely important to the litigation process. Personnel shall oversee and ensure that employees are creating hard copies of the electronic information as well.
• Personnel must ensure that all programs set to normally delete or overwrite information are suspended and that the information is retained as long as the information is relevant to the case.
If any individual notices any suspicious activity be sure to report this to the Premier College legal team. If any individuals fail to comply or knowingly alter information as stated previously this could result in possible termination, legal action, and fines. Compliance is important in the litigation process, and is highly recommend for all personnel to comply if there are any questions regarding the litigation process contact me by email.
Thank You,
Chief Information Officer
Aaron Seda
Summary:
In summation, the Litigation Hold process has many different procedures that all employees must follow to ensure that all federal regulations are met in the litigation process and that all employees are complying with the process as well. As stressed by every facet of the Litigation process compliance of the staff is very important to the preservation of the data. The document retention policy is created to describe the different aspects of retaining electronic data and information. The retention policy also explains that all electronic information preserved should be accompanied with a hard copy of the data to protect the integrity of the organization. This policy also explains what information is relevant to the litigation process, and what to do with information that is not essential to the investigation as well. The retention policy stresses the importance of compliance amongst all personnel and the steps towards ensuring compliance as well. The Litigation Hold Notice notifies all employees of Premier College that the organization is under a litigation hold, and that all personnel should be involved with the preservation of pertinent electronic documents to this case. The Litigation Hold Notice also describes what information is relevant towards this case and where this information can be accessed. The reason behind the description of relevant information is to guide the employees as to what data they must preserve and how to maintain the data. The Litigation Checklist gives directions to the responsibilities of all the staff members of Premier College. The checklist goes over what information needs to be preserved, compliance, and the aspect of suspending the destruction of electronic information.
...(download the rest of the essay above)