HomeMy WebLinkAbout36 Appendix I
COLORADO MUNICIPAL RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE
Colorado towns and cities regularly utilize technology to facilitate communication with the public, and
technology changes rapidly. Keeping up-to-date on new technology and how best to meet our legal
recordkeeping obligations for this communication can be difficult.
Social media content is one of the latest recordkeeping challenges. Social media refers to any number of
platforms where an account holder can post written messages, images, audio, video or multimedia files with
the intention of sharing that information with others. Examples include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr,
Google+, and others.
Much of the challenge has to do with the shared control of the information being posted to the social media
platform. Prior to social media, the municipality had sole control over the communication tools it created such
as news releases, newsletters, bulletins, etc. Many of these tools continue to be used, and the retention of the
information is straightforward and typically retained in paper or electronic format for the duration of its legal
retention period. The format then evolved to web sites, but control of the web site content still resided with the
municipality (or through contract) and the content could be preserved as needed by municipal staff or through contract
terms with a web site vendor. The progression to social media is different in that it is almost always controlled by a
non-contracted third party entity. These entities are not subject to regulations that cover government
agencies and, therefore, offer no guarantees that the municipality will be able to retain control of or capture all
content posted. Lack of control may be the reason some municipalities choose to avoid social media. For those
that do utilize social media, it will be helpful to think through a few issues.
1. Are social media posts considered public records? There is not a definitive answer and it
depends on how social media is utilized by the municipality. A discussion with a records
management perspective and a legal perspective is suggested. Generally, if the posts contain
substantive communication or unique/original announcements, notices, or communication
about particular issues or initiatives, the posts should be considered records. If the posts are
duplicates of documentation already retained by the municipality, the posts are likely not
records that need to be captured and retained.
2. If my municipality decides social media posts are records, what is the retention period? The
retention period is based on the content of the posts and not the format. Some posts may be
considered a news release, meeting notice, or other informational notifications. These are
subject to the same retention requirements as a paper or electronic version.
3. How does a municipality capture and retain content from social media accounts? Utilizing third
party software that is designed for automatically capturing and retaining social media posts is
common.
4. Do I need a social media policy? If your municipality considers posts as records, a policy is
suggested. Elements to consider include various definitions, roles and responsibilities, guide-
lines and conditions for usage, approval of new accounts, security, retention, archiving
standards, and deletions. Gathering policies from other municipalities will provide a drafting
framework to customize a policy for your town or city.
5. If I decide to purchase a software product to capture and retain social media posts, what should
I consider? A records perspective in selecting a product is important. Many vendors have
software products with impressive functionality, but not all understand records management
principles. Here are some vendor interview questions:
a. Why should we archive social media posts?
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Appendix I — Social Media
APPENDIX I
SOCIAL MEDIA
COLORADO MUNICIPAL RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE
b. What are the risks if we do not archive?
c. How labor intensive is the archiving process?
d. Can we choose to archive only selected social media posts, or do we have to archive them
all?
e. Describe where the archive will be located in the cloud.
f. How does the system handle retention and destruction of social media posts we retain and
ultimately destroy as records?
g. What is the recommended retention period for social media posts?
h. What happens if we stop doing business with the vendor? Can we migrate the archive
somewhere else? Will it remain accessible to the City?
i. Does the vendor have a disaster recovery plan (such as off-site storage of backups) to
ensure the records will be there when needed?
j. What kind of security is in place? What are the hacking risks?
k. Describe the search mechanisms available to us in e-discovery?
l. Is there a cost to retrieve archived social media posts?
m. How will we provide specific posts for legal proceedings? What is the cost?
n. Will we be able to place a legal hold on destruction?
o. What is the cost? How is the cost determined (i.e., per license, per volume, or what)? Does
the cost go up as we use social media more?<Added 10/22>
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Appendix I — Social Media