Important Things To Know About FOIA Text Archiving



We live in an era where there is increased use of personal mobile devices for work-related discussions. People are constantly using unconventional means to discuss work-related business, and government officials are no longer turning a blind eye to this fact. For instance, a city attorney can send a text message to a colleague instead of an email or use their personal device instead of an official city phone. These messages are being recognized as matters of public record, meaning that secure FOIA text archiving in a proper manner is needed.

In 2011, the office of the attorney general of Texas ruled that emails as well as text messages that are sent between public officials should be considered public information that is subject to the Texas Public Information Act. Before this ruling, a city in Texas had received a request for emails and SMS text messages that are sent between the commission members of the city, the senior personnel and the city secretary. Even though the city attorney argued that the Texas Public Information Act exempted this type of information because of privacy concerns, the Attorney General’s office ruled against the city and affirmed that emails and text messages that are created in connection with transactions of official businesses should be considered public information that is covered by the Texas Public Information Act. This simply means that these text messages are open records that need to be archived.

It is not only in Texas where proper FOIA text archiving is required. Still in 2011, the public access bureau of the Illinois attorney general published a binding opinion (referred to as Opinion 11-066) which clearly states that electronic communications that are related to the state, local or federal government can be considered public record whether they are shared on privately or publicly-owned devices. These records are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

For more information on FOIA text archiving, visit our website at https://www.telemessage.com/

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