Press release from AIIM: American Companies Fail To Address Retention of Email and Electronic Records – Survey Finds “e-Records” Policies Non-Existent in Almost Half of Companies [Link]
“Nearly half of American companies have not adopted records retention policies for email and other electronic documents, despite the serious issues raised about corporate records keeping over the past two years.
In a new survey of 2,200 records managers, 47 percent said their company does not include electronic records in its retention and destruction schedules. Nearly 6 in 10 companies (59 percent) reported having no formal policy concerning the retention of emails.
Even more disturbing, 46 percent of companies reported having no system for placing holds on records in the event of pending litigation or a regulatory investigation leaving open the possibility that records critical to a legal matter could be destroyed. Moreover, 65 percent said their company’s hold order policy, if one existed, did not include electronic records.”