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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