2002-06-26 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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, . ~ account is merely a single file in a much larger system. Although an employee may delete a particular file, the city or a lawyer for someone that sues the city will be able to view the message long after the employee has deleted it from his or her computer. Employees should understand that the majority of e-mail is public data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and would be released in response to a data practices request. A city can also attempt to reduce the risk of liability from e-mail as discovery in litigation by adopting a policy relating to employee use of technology and the Internet. There are several statements that a city may want to include in its policy. . Caution employees to use good judgment when creating electronic mail messages. Explain that sometimes messages are forwarded beyond the intended recipients, inadvertently disclosed, subpoenaed in a legal action, elr produced in response to a data practices request. . Require e-mail communications that are not public records to be deleted as soon as their administrative purpose has been served. . State that the City will monitor employee e-mail, computer files and Internet use as it determines necessary and may disclose information from these sources to third parties without providing notice to employees. . Limit the use of technology and the Internet to business purposes (you may want to make certain exception for limited personal use). G. E-mail and the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MNGDPA) E-mail is not specifically addressed in the MNGDP A or the laws relating to the retention of public records. However, it is clear that depending on the content, e-mail communications are public records subjectto the MNGDPA. Therefore, the presumption is that the data contained in recorded e-mail communications are public unless classified otherwise by the MNGDP A or other laws. In addition, if e-mail communications are public records, they only can be disposed of according to a records retention schedule. There are several statements that a city may want to include in a policy relating to employee use of technology and the Internet. . Explain that all e-mail should be considered public unless otherwise defined by the MNGDP A and that all data and information stored on computers rcsources owned, leased or rented by the City should be considered public unless otherwise defined by the MNGDP A. . Prohibit employees from sending e-mail communications with private data because e- mail can be easily misdirected and its contents can be easily altered. . Define the type of e-mail communications that should be considered public records (you may want to require employees to print e-mail communications that are public records and include them in the subject file or retain them as word processing documents). 7