The boundaries of email archiving: Bush draws the line?

March 3, 2008 at 9:22 pm (5095152, archive email, business, data retention, electronic communication, electronic privacy, Email Archiving, email backup, email management, email retention, esi, George Bush, legal, message archiving, Missouri Sunshine law, news, personal stuff, politics, president, privacy, thoughts, white house)

Mitch Ratcliffe of Zdnet Rational Rants reports that President Bush was quite insightful in providing information about his administration’s email retention policy. “I don’t want you reading my personal stuff,” President Bush told the press when asked about why his administration has failed to comply with records-retention laws during his time in office. Ratcliffe then adds: “Unfortunately, Mr. President, nothing you can do at your desk, or in the airplanes, cars and buildings we give you to use as president, is ‘your personal stuff.’ It is the property of the people. As voters, we must demand greater accountability of the next president.”

I think Ratcliffe is right on. There is a fine difference between the use of personal records and public records. Electronically stored information (ESI) which relates directly to the President and his job as head of the United States, is PUBLIC information. I am sure there are limited exceptions and so on and so forth, but his “personal stuff,” the way he phrased it, is not at all accurate. Email archiving solutions, especially in the case of political activity, are truly important measures to have in place to make sure that there is nothing going on that shouldn’t be. Governot Matt Blunt of Missouri has made the news recently in EXACTLY the same way. I agree with Ratcliffe that we cannot let this kind of activity slide. It is time that email archiving be taken seriously.

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