Electronic Mail Messages
- Are electronic mail (e-mail) messages considered Federal records?
- Who is responsible for maintaining an e-mail message as a record?
- If an e-mail message is sent to several recipients, which copy is the official record?
- How should e-mail records be maintained?
- How should non-record e-mails be handled?
- Do these guidelines apply to FDA contractors?
- Can e-mail messages that are federal records be filed in personal e-mail folders?
- Can e-mail messages be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
- Do e-mail messages have to be maintained on back-up media?
1. Are electronic mail (e-mail) messages considered Federal records?
Sometime, the same records management principles that apply to paper correspondence apply to e-mail. Therefore, e-mail messages are considered records when they:
- are made or received at the Agency in connection with Agency business; and
- are preserved, or are appropriate for preservation, as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Agency, or because of the informational value of the data in them.
For e-mail messages that are not determined to be official Federal records, it is still important to remember that those messages, as well as the entire e-mail system, are Government property. The e-mail system is neither completely confidential nor private. Your supervisor may have a right to read your e-mail in certain situations, and for official purposes, e.g. during your absence due to sick leave. The LAN administrator may need to access your e-mail for technical reasons.
2. Who is responsible for maintaining an e-mail message as a record?
Both sender and recipient of e-mail messages have the responsibility to document their activities and those of their organizations. Both the sender and the recipient have to determine whether a particular e-mail message is a necessary part of that documentation.
3. If an e-mail message is sent to several recipients, which copy is the official record?
It depends. Different copies of the same message may be records. If you take any official action related to a message, and if the message is needed for adequate and complete documentation of the action, the message would be a record in your office, regardless of whether copies are retained elsewhere. If the records is in your office's official files, then your copy is not a record and you may delete it.
If you receive a message only for information and do not take action related to it, your copy would not be a record.
4. How should e-mail records be maintained?
An e-mail message that meets the legal definition of a Federal record must be filed either electronically or in hard copy in an official recordkeeping system with related files and disposed of according to records retention schedules. The retention periods or disposition dates are listed either in the General Records Schedule or the Agency Records Control Schedule.
There are some specific requirements for records made or received through e-mail. You should make sure that:
- if the e-mail message has attachments, you would keep them under the same conditions that you would if they were paper attachments to a paper memo. If a message qualifies as part of the documentation of your activities, related items that provide context for the message are maintained as well.
- the e-mail record includes transmission data that identifies the sender, recipient(s), and the date and time the message was sent and/or received.
- When the e-mail message is sent to a distribution list, information identifying all parties on the list is retained for as long as the message is retained; and
- if the e-mail system uses codes, or aliases to identify senders or recipients, a record of their real names is kept for as long as any records containing only the codes or aliases.
5. How should non-record e-mails be handled?
Messages that are non-records may be deleted without filing. Examples of non-records are:
- copies of memoranda or letters that were sent for information rather than action;
- messages and/or attachments for whose retention you are not responsible;
- messages that have only temporary value, such as the message that a meeting has been rescheduled;
6. Do these guidelines apply to FDA contractors?
Yes, these guidelines apply to FDA contractors and other agents, as well as FDA employees. Contract terms should ensure that contractor systems satisfy legal requirements for creating and maintaining adequate and complete records of FDA transactions when those transactions are carried out by contractors.
7. Can e-mail messages that are federal records be filed in personal e-mail folders?
Generally, personal e-mail folders are not part of an official recordkeeping system, so the official record copy may not be kept there. Instead, messages that are official records should be printed out and filed with related materials.
You may, however keep information/reference copies of email messages in your personal folders. It is important to remember that these copies should be deleted when they are no longer needed, and should not be kept beyond the retention period of the official record. Messages that are kept in personal folders beyond the retention period are subject to FOIA requests.
8. Can e-mail messages be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
E-mail messages held in the agency e-mail system fall under agency records under FOIA and may be subject to FOIA, the Privacy Act, litigation, court orders, and Congressional inquiries.
There is no burden of responding to a FOIA request for e-mail messages that are no longer available because they were deleted according to records disposition schedules.
9. Do e-mail messages have to be maintained on back-up media?
E-mail messages are maintained on back-up media for recovery purposes in the event of systems failure. This vehicle does not serve an archival purpose; and should not be used as a records management tool.