Blogs Create Evidence That Must Be Retained & Managed, Feds Announce on December 1
Does your company treat blog posts and comments like discoverable legal evidence that must be retained, archived, and produced--quickly--in the event of a workplace lawsuit or regulatory investigation? If not, now is the time to get your strategic blog management and business record retention policy and procedures in place.
On December 1, 2006, the U.S. Federal Court implemented new rules governing the discovery of "electronically stored information." The ruling makes clear that any type of electronically stored information (including writers' blog posts and readers' comments) can be subpoenaed and used as evidence (for or against your company) in the course of litigation.
The ruling not only covers all current types of computer-based information, but it also is flexible enough to apply to any future technologies that may be developed down the road. To learn more, visit the U.S. Court's Federal Rulemaking website: http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/congress0406.html.
97% of Employers Fail to Manage Blog Business Records
Only 3% of companies currently have written policy in place to govern the retention of blog business records. That's a potentially costly oversight, considering that writers' posts and readers' comments create the electronic equivalent of DNA evidence. Fully 24% of organizations have had employee e-mail subpoenaed and another 15% of employees have gone to court to battle lawsuits triggered by e-mail, according to the 2006 Workplace E-Mail, Instant Messaging & Blog Survey from American Management Association and my firm, The ePolicy Institute, www.epolicyinstitute.com.
It's only a matter of time until blog posts and comments begin to play an equally significant evidentiary role in litigation and regulatory investigations. To help prevent the likelihood of blog-related disaster from striking tomorrow, put a blog usage, content, and retention policy in place today.
Failure to Produce Electronic Evidence Costs Employers Millions
In recent years, we've seen many companies slapped with multi-million-dollar (and occasionally billion-dollar) jury awards, legal settlements, court sanctions, and regulatory fines because of their failure to retain, archive, and turn over e-mail business records when ordered to do so. There is no reason to assume that employers who fail to retain and archive blog records won't be hit with equally robust penalties.
What Exactly Is a Blog Business Record?
As detailed in my book Blog Rules (Amacom, 2006), www.amanet.org, if employees are blogging about your company, its products, services, transactions, suppliers, customers, executives, and staff, then chances are they are creating electronic business records that the organization is obligated to save, store, and (in the event of a lawsuit) hand over to litigators.
If employee-bloggers are corresponding with readers via e-mail, then they may be creating even more business records that must be retained and archived. If your organization allows readers to post comments on business blogs, then another potential cache of business records is being compiled.
Blog Rule #13: Treat blog posts and comments as business records that must be retained, archived, and readily available to courts or regulators in the event of a workplace lawsuit or regulatory investigation.
Coming This Week
I hope you'll join me this week, as I discuss blog risks, blog rules, and blog best practices designed to help minimize organizational risks and maximize blog communications.