For federal agencies, such information includes e-mail  messages that may have the status of federal records. These records, which  include e-mail records, must be effectively managed. NARA has issued regulations that specifically address the  management of e-mail records. Further, except for a limited category of “transitory”  e-mail records, agencies are not permitted to store the  recordkeeping copy of e-mail records in the e-mail system, unless  that system has certain features, such as the ability to group records  into classifications according to their business purposes and to  permit easy and timely retrieval of both individual records and  groupings of related records. Management of E-Mail Records Poses Challenges

Because of its nature, e-mail can present particular challenges to  records management. First, the information contained in e-mail  records is not uniform: it may concern any subject or function and  document various types of transactions. As a result, in many cases,  decisions on which e-mail messages are records must be made  individually. Second, the transmission data associated with an e- mail record—including information about the senders and receivers  of messages, the date and time the message was sent, and any  attachments to the messages—may be crucial to understanding the  context of the record. Third, a given message may be part of an  exchange of messages between two or more people within or  outside an agency, or even of a string (sometimes branching) of  many messages sent and received on a given topic. In such cases,  agency staff need to decide which message or messages should be  considered records and who is responsible for storing them in a  recordkeeping system. Finally, the large number of federal e-mail  users and high volume of e-mails increase the management  challenge. A 2005 NARA-sponsored survey of federal agencies’ policy and  practices for electronic records management concluded that  procedures for managing e-mail were underdeveloped. Specifically, for 8 of the 15 senior officials we reviewed, e-mail  messages that qualified as records were not being appropriately  identified and preserved. Each of the four agencies  generally followed a print and file process to preserve e-mail  records in paper-based recordkeeping systems because their e-mail  systems did not have required record-keeping capabilities. Factors  contributing to this lack of compliance with recordkeeping  requirements were the lack of adequate staff support and the  volume of e-mail received—several of these officials had thousands  or even tens of thousands of messages in their e-mail system  accounts. However, by keeping every message, they were  potentially increasing the time and effort that would be needed to  search through and review all the saved messages in response to an  outside inquiry, such as a Freedom of Information Act request. In summary, the increasing use of e-mail is resulting in records  management challenges for federal agencies. For example, the large  number of federal e-mail users and the high volume of e-mails  present challenges, particularly in the current paper-based  environment. While agency e-mail policies generally contained  required elements, about half of the senior officials we reviewed  were not following these policies and were instead maintaining their  e-mail messages within their e-mail accounts, where records cannot  be efficiently searched, are not accessible to others who might need  the information in the records, and are at increased risk of loss. Several agencies are considering developing electronic  recordkeeping systems, but until such systems are implemented,  agencies may have reduced assurance that information that is  essential to protecting the rights of individuals and the federal  government is being adequately identified and preserved.
Why GAO Did This Study

Federal agencies are increasingly using electronic mail (e-mail) for essential communication. In doing so, they are potentially creating messages that have the status of federal records, which must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal Records Act. To carry out the records management responsibilities established in the act, agencies are to follow implementing regulations that include specific requirements for e-mail records. In view of the importance that e-mail plays in documenting government activities, GAO was asked to testify on issues relating to the preservation of electronic records, including e-mail. As agreed, GAO's statement discusses challenges facing agencies when managing their e-mail records, as well as current policies and practices for managing e-mail messages that qualify as federal records. This testimony is primarily based on preliminary results of ongoing work, in which GAO is examining, among other things, e-mail policies at four agencies of contrasting sizes and structures (the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development), as well as the practices of selected senior officials.

What GAO Found

E-mail, because of its nature, presents challenges to records management. First, the information contained in e-mail records is not uniform: it may concern any subject or function and document various types of transactions. As a result, in many cases, decisions on which e-mail messages are records must be made individually. Second, the transmission data associated with an e-mail record--including information about the senders and receivers of messages, the date and time the message was sent, and any attachments to the messages--may be crucial to understanding the context of the record. Third, a given message may be part of an exchange of messages between two or more people within or outside an agency, or even of a string (sometimes branching) of many messages sent and received on a given topic. In such cases, agency staff need to decide which message or messages should be considered records and who is responsible for storing them in a recordkeeping system. Finally, the large number of federal e-mail users and high volume of e-mails increase the management challenge. Preliminary results of GAO's ongoing review of e-mail records management at four agencies show that not all are meeting the challenges posed by e-mail records. Although the four agencies' e-mail records management policies addressed, with a few exceptions, the regulatory requirements, these requirements were not always met for the senior officials whose e-mail practices were reviewed. Each of the four agencies generally followed a print and file process to preserve e-mail records in paper-based recordkeeping systems, but for about half of the senior officials, e-mail records were not being appropriately identified and preserved in such systems. Instead, e-mail messages were being retained in e-mail systems that lacked recordkeeping capabilities. (Among other things, a recordkeeping system allows related records to be grouped into classifications according to their business purposes.) Unless they have recordkeeping capabilities, e-mail systems may not permit easy and timely retrieval of groupings of related records or individual records. Further, keeping large numbers of record and nonrecord messages in e-mail systems potentially increases the time and effort needed to search for information in response to a business need or an outside inquiry, such as a Freedom of Information Act request. Factors contributing to this practice were the lack of adequate staff support and the volume of e-mail received. In addition, agencies had not ensured that officials and their responsible staff received training in recordkeeping requirements for e-mail. If recordkeeping requirements are not followed, agencies cannot be assured that records, including information essential to protecting the rights of individuals and the federal government, is being adequately identified and preserved.