New Electronic Data Rules

New federal electronic data retention rules took effect today.

AP:

The changes, approved by the Supreme Court's administrative arm in April after a five-year review, require companies and other parties involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of discovery, the process by which both sides share evidence before a trial.

Federal and state courts have increasingly been requiring the production of such evidence in individual cases. The new rules clarify that the data will be required in federal cases.

Records retention programs will now have to encompass stored electronic data such as emails and instant messages. This means retention times, security and methods of disposal must be specified similar to what is already being done for hardcopy records.

As I understand the change, if one receives an email from a stockholder with instructions to sell IMClone immediately, under the new rules the email would become a legal record, requiring retention and retrievability. Previously, the emails could have been dumped/overwritten from the database.

Of course, the new rules mean that electronic communications of a more personal, maybe even pejorative or licentious, nature will become records also. Those with porn proclivities, take note.