When it comes to capturing and archiving text messages, a recent survey from Smarsh found many government agencies are not keeping up with best practices required to satisfy public records requests. Smarsh’s 2018 Public Sector Text & Mobile Communications Survey offers insights from government professionals at all levels from across the US regarding mobile device management and the use of technology in handling public records requests for email and text message communication.
Some 70% of respondents from local to the federal government said text messages are an allowed communication tool for business, at the same time almost half of respondents acknowledged they are not capturing text message communications. Almost of quarter of public entities that participated in the survey said that they would likely be unable to produce text messages from top official if these records were requested.
“Our findings reveal a significant gap between the communication channels allowed for business and the retention and oversight necessary to mitigate the risk of violating sunshine laws,” the report states. Read more…