White House overhauls electronic records requirements

Digital Genetics/Shutterstock.com

Agencies have until 2019 to abandon paper storage for e-records.

Federal agencies have until the end of 2019 to adopt systems that store and manage all electronic records in formats that will keep them safe and searchable for future generations, according to a White House directive released Friday.

Currently, many agencies print paper copies of the documents and other records they are legally required to maintain due to concerns that existing file formats won’t be viable 30 years down the road when they must turn the records over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Agencies have until the end of 2016 to store all email in electronic formats and until Nov. 15, 2012, to appoint a senior official responsible for beefing up their electronic records management programs, Friday’s memo from Office of Management and Budget acting Director Jeff Zients said. Those officials must undergo National Archives training themselves and in turn must develop training programs for agency employees, the memo states.

The Office of Personnel Management also must establish a formal career path for records management officials by the end of 2013, according to the memo.

The memo is a result of six months of correspondence between agencies, OMB and the government transparency community.

“Records management just isn’t given enough priority within agencies and it differs from agency to agency,” said Anne Weismann, chief counsel at the Center for Responsibility and Ethics, a major transparency group. “The concept here -- and the same thing was done with [Freedom of Information Act compliance] -- is to elevate it to a senior level, to stress its importance and to have more accountability, and I think that’s a great step.”

Overall, Weismann said, she’s very pleased with the directive’s contents but disappointed by the deadlines.

“They could have said 2014 and that still wouldn’t have been fast enough for me, but I could have lived with it,” she said. “But this is a very long deadline. I think it’s very easy for agencies not to do this. It’s an area where agencies don’t want to spend their limited dollars and I think they need a huge push.”

The memo also includes a 2013 deadline for the Archives to issue revised guidance on permanent storage of electronic records, including the metadata agencies should include in those records. Metadata is information about the creation of a document or other digital product such as the last edited dates attached to a Word document or the date and time stamp on digital photos.

That guidance also must include strategies for making electronically stored records searchable.

The memo directs the federal Chief Information Officers Council to work with the Archives and with industry to find open source technology that meets the government’s records management requirements and to incorporate records management requirements into future cloud computing acquisitions.

The government is in the midst of a major push to transfer as much of its computer storage as possible into off-site computer clouds, which can pack information more tightly and cheaply than on-site data centers.

Obtaining cloud storage that’s not only economical but searchable as well is the key to an effective records management regime, Weismann said.

“When agencies like mine file a FOIA, not infrequently the response from the administration is ‘we just don’t have a good way to look for that,’ ” she said.

The government’s early adoption of cloud storage has not focused enough on making sure stored material is accessible to the public, Weismann said.

“Imagine a closet where you open it up and throw a bunch of papers in,” she said. “You’re preserving everything, but you can’t find everything and that’s a concern.”

About 95 percent of agencies fail to meet current statutory requirements for maintaining their electronic records, according to a NARA estimate based on agency self-assessments.

Agencies aren’t required to turn over most records to NARA until 30 years after they are created. That has made storing records in electronic formats such as Word documents or PDFs difficult because the technology to read them may be prohibitively expensive or nonexistent in 30 years, or less.

Archivist of the United States David Ferriero has suggested moving up the deadline to turn data over to the Archives to the end of the presidential administration during which the document was created.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.