* Assistant Director, EDP Systems Division, State Comptroller's Office, Israel. This article is based on a paper presented to the Conference on the Audit of the Application of IT Systems held from October 9 to 13, 1995 at Valence, Hungary.
With the onset of the computer age, storage media containing electronic mail (E-mail - a service that allows two parties to transmit a digital message between two computer terminals through a service provider, where it is maintained in electronic storage until accessed by the recipient. E-mail also allows two parties to send messages via third party routing.) messages have become increasingly significant as major repositories of information in the modern organisation.
In the past there were some arguments by auditees and controversies over the right of the Israeli State Comptroller's Office to access electronic data and use the facilities of the auditees for data extraction. Most of these are "old history" by now, and there is no doubt that our legal structure backs the right of the State Comptroller to request and get such access. However, we had recently a new misunderstanding - this time over the access to an e-mail system.
Computers and word-processing, combined with computer-to-computer communications, have made it possible for organisations to create and send messages without the use of paper. E-mail permits officials in an organisation to communicate with each other via electronic "notes". It also enables this type of communication between organisations.
E-mail can be delivered almost instantaneously at any time of the day. in contrast to telephone conversations, e-mail automatically creates a complete record of the exact information users send and receive. Employees who access electronic mail systems use them for "notes" that are often indistinguishable from letters or memoranda. Direct computer-to-computer communications make it possible not only to send messages, but also to delete them with the stroke of a key. An official holding a paper document has to choose between filing it or discarding it. That same official looking at an electronic message has in principle the same choices, except that deleting an electronic document is actually much easier.
E-mail can contain information about decisions made and their implementation, and constitutes important documentation through which officials keep track of what has actually been communicated or done in the organisation. Thus, it can play a significant role in the audit process and accountability.
On the other hand, the electronic document is quite vulnerable as compared to the paper document; maintenance and preservation of these records is not yet incorporated in administrative tradition nor in officially structured regulations and procedures. The computer age has brought with it a host of problems related to record-keeping. Due to a lack of proper regulations concerning its preservation, e-mail messages are in danger of being destroyed or deleted without proper authorisation. In the short history of electronic records management, there are several cases in which electronic documents were destroyed, or almost destroyed, resulting in controversy and legal dispute. These cases involved extremely sensitive issues at the highest echelons of public administration.
At the end of the Reagan and Bush administrations in the US, officials has intended to purge the White House computer of all electronic mail messages, an act that would have denied these messages not only to the incoming administration, but also to future historians. Only the intervention of the federal court prevented this purging.
Scott Armstrong, founder of the National Security Archives - a research institute in the US - learned about the plan of the Reagan administration to dispose of all its computer back-up tapes, before turning the computer system over to the new administration. In 1989, Armstrong and others filed a complaint against the President, the Vice-President, the National Security Council and the National Archivist, alleging that the tapes contained valuable presidential and federal records that were at risk of being destroyed.
The historical importance of those documents, created through the use of e-mail systems, was without question. The documents have been used in the prosecution of Noriega (the former President of Panama) and in the investigation of the Iran Contra affair. The lawsuit prevented the physical destruction of those records; but their status as federal records was unresolved. Furthermore, the federal judge disagreed with the argument, that if records organised on a computer storage device are printed out, then the corresponding electronic data could legally be wiped out. He held that electronic mail records, unlike paper copies, show not only their content, but also who received the information, and when. Other unique information may also be recorded, such as document distribution lists.
At the heart of democracy lies the notion that unchecked power corrupts. Records, particularly unflattering ones, might not be preserved or disclosed on purpose. Were .it not for the Iran-Contra scandal and the investigation of Oliver North, attention might never have been drawn to those electronic mail systems.
In order to overcome the desire to limit access to certain records, it is necessary to formulate clear guidelines and a clear definition of what type of records must be maintained in order to enable access for purposes of control and investigation.
A. Adequate electronic record-keeping is part of the general record-keeping policy. Achieving it involves the development of a proper framework of regulation, which is an adaptation of the regulations for records management. Once such regulations are established, they should be implemented and enforced through suitable training programmes and controls.
The State Comptroller of Israel dealt with the preservation of archival material produced by computer systems, in state organisations as well as local authorities. We found that the State Archives did not initiate proper activities for the collection and retention of such material, nor did they take necessary steps to allow access to those records by interested users.
Furthermore, the State Archives did not adequately instruct the state organisations about procedures for dealing with computerised records. The State Comptroller concluded that much more needs to be done, in view of the rapid introduction of computer systems and the large scale production of valuable archival material requires preservation.
B. Regulations dealing with record-keeping usually identify which documents should be preserved, such as those that deal with decisions, procedures, operations and liaison with the public. The objective of records management in the public administration is to establish accurate and complete documentation of policies and activities. Access to government records provides information and a better understanding of policy formulation and implementation. It also facilitates the audit of the regularity, efficiency, economy and effectiveness of the public administration's performance.
Proper record-keeping requirements can also deter illegal and unethical governmental activities, because officials then know that there is evidence which can be brought against them.
Since the disclosure of information is essential to the functioning of a democracy, those who manage public administration information resources should ensure proper access to that information. Furthermore, retention of documents contributes to the regularity and continuity of government activities.
The State Comptroller of Israel reviewed administrative actions taken during the period when a new government was formed. It was found that in some instances the staff of the outgoing minister did not prepare or hand over to the new government minister any written information or documentation regarding the aims, activities, programmes and problems of the ministry. The State Comptroller's Office suggested establishing appropriate documentation procedures for such events; procedures concerning record-keeping during the transfer of government, were issued in 1983.
In 1993, a review of the implementation of those procedures revealed that the full contents of the hard disk of a computer that had been used by an outgoing minister, had been erased, leaving no back-up and no possibility of restoring the lost files.
C. The accountability of public officials includes ensuring that the authority granted to them is used lawfully and in accordance with public interest. Although existing laws and regulations have defined the type of records and the materials which should be preserved and documented, they have not as yet delineated procedure to determine how electronic records should be stored, for how long and where.
Attention should be directed to the changing realities of information creation, dissemination and preservation in an electronic age. Regulations should be determined by a central authority and be consistent with previous regulations that define the types of electronic records that must be preserved. Records management policies should be formal, binding, clear and uniform, and not subject to arbitrary variations and capricious procedures.
Experts in the field point out with great concern, that the use of electronic tools, like e-mail, may seriously affect the preservation of documents containing important information about policy making, both before and after the decision. Amongst such documents are preliminary drafts, memoranda of conversations and information reflecting the process of decision-making and implementation.
That concern relates to a human tendency to get rid of records relating to mistakes, and to selectively delete documents. There are also records that cease to be of any operational interest to their creators. Nevertheless, public interest and proper administration demand that they be preserved.
In order to ensure the accountability of the public administration, proper electronic records management must be dealt with seriously, so that messages and documents regarding policy-making processes are properly maintained. Once clear rules are established, they will draw special attention to proper management of electronic records, and will induce awareness and action.
Employees should be made aware that e-mail is to be used for the organisation's purposes only, and that messages on that system should be considered the organisation's records. Employees have no automatic right to privacy when using the organisation's computerised system. Awareness of this will minimise misunderstandings and disputes. Organisations should explain to employees their rights and duties and should clarify the circumstances under which a third party can have access to e-mail messages.
It is not yet clear how the public administration will maintain documents not written on paper, and enable access and retrieval of information produced by e-mail systems.
It was already mentioned that there are some who would claim that a proper print-out of all the information regarding a specific electronic document would be adequate, and that the electronic copy could be disposed of as "extra copy". However, those familiar with electronic data systems would argue that a paper "copy" of an electronic document is not an exact copy at all. Experience shows that electronic records are most useful in their electronic forms. Therefore, access to records and their examination should be in the same forms in which they were created and used.
Costs: Storing government information using electronic technologies may be relatively inexpensive. This is based on the assumption that organising and indexing hard-copy documents is a far more expensive activity. Computer programmes enable easier organising and retrieval, and the warehousing of disks full of data is likely to cost considerably less than thevwarehousing and organising of records on paper. A standard (5'/< inch) optical disk can store 550 million bytes of data (equivalent to 300,000 printed pages).
New technology based on the principle of the scanning tunnelling microscope, promises a 3,000 to 10,000 gain in storage capacity, compared with current optical disks. Electronic storage saves space and also facilitates information retrieval. Electronic records, even in very large data bases, can be searched quickly and automatically for particular words or phrases.
Effectiveness: Optical disks, however, are an incomplete solution: firstly, they are not sufficiently durable (storage life expectancy of only three to twenty years); secondly, electronic data are easier to alter without leaving traces than paper records; thirdly, data-storage technology is rapidly changing, and there is no assurance that the machines that will be in use in the future will enable access to the data stored on magnetic media by current machines.
The issue of records preservation is linked to the issue of access. If records are not preserved, there remains nothing for auditors or researchers to have access to. In addition to preservation, having proper equipment is necessary to ensure access and retrieval. Archivists should therefore having appropriate machines and technology that will enable them to read e-mail. Lack of proper regulations determining the necessary equipment is another indication of lack of attention this area has received.
Dramatic changes in communications technology and the use of computers have caused a revolution in office activities and infrastructure. Growing reliance by organisations on all kinds of e-mail and voice mail communications systems have created new opportunities, but at the same time have raised both legal and technological problems. The introduction of new technologies and the use of electronic mail has implications regarding some of the basic principles of public administration.
The modern democratic state is founded on the notion that the public has a right to know what its government administration is doing and how it is performing. An appropriate level of accountability for decisions made and activities taken by the government administration is a basic demand and is in the interest of the public. The concept of accountability calls for proper records management and disclosure of documents.
The aim of our brief discussion is to point out the urgent need to determine clear policy and regulations concerning electronic records management, together with continuous consideration of the technological problems involved in the access and retrieval of records.