Feb 11
20
PC Pro Schools & College Email Retention Frequently Asked Questions
Email retention has become a very important aspect for companies across the world. In the U.S. alone, a number of laws have been passed to ensure that companies retain certain categories of information for set periods of time. This is to protect investors, customers, and the organization themselves.
If you are a company owner who plans on introducing email retention to your organization, then you must have plenty of questions needing answers. Here are some of the more frequently asked questions, and their answers.
Q: What is a retention and disposal schedule?
A: A retention and disposal schedule is a document which identifies how long the email records must be kept, when they should be destroyed, and which records should be preserved permanently. This is a very important aspect in email retention because records should not be destroyed outside of this schedule.
Q: Who is responsible for retaining email messages?
A: Email messages can be considered as evidence of decisions and activities. The law requires an audit trail be retained for a given period. It also helps the company involved as they always have documentary evidence of their dealings. The company is responsible for retaining their own records in an approved format.
Q: Are deleted emails destroyed?
A: Usually deleted messages are stored on backup devices for a certain period of time after they are deleted. How many and for how long depends on each individual company. Once the internal and legal requirements have been met, the company is free to destroy them as they wish.
Q: Will older messages be accessible even when the company’s hardware and software is upgraded?
A: Email messages need to be accessible by all technology, be it old or new. There is a prescribed format with which an email has to be retained. As long as the data remains intact, the exact file type is down to the company. Most formats are system neutral so won’t be affected by hardware or software changes.
Q: Will I be able to access my emails despite the encryption?
A: Encryption is used only to protect the information in the emails. If you have the rights to access the email database, then you will easily be able to view your emails with the correct decryption software and the key.
Q: Won’t email archiving affect my employees’ privacy?
A: All emails that are created, received, or stored by your company are company property. An email retention system won’t do anything to them that will expose, publish or display the contents of those mails. In fact, they will be safer in storage than they will be in their inbox.
Q: Do I need an email retention policy?
A: You should set up an email retention policy before you start archiving your company’s emails. This is a very important step for your company to start complying with regulations and ensure you don’t lose important company information. If you run a business, you need a retention policy.
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