Email Retention Faq

Q1. When will this policy take effect?
The policy will take effect June 30, 2011.

Q2. Why was this policy created?
In response to changing legal requirements, ISU Legal Counsel and the ISU ITAC committee have recommended the establishment of a 180-day Email Retention Policy. Based on those recommendations, and at the direction of the administration, email retention on the ISU Exchange email system will be set to 180 days effective March 29, 2012.

Q3. How does this policy affect me?
On March 29, 2012 all email and related attachments that are older than 180 days residing in Exchange and/or Archive Manager (including any centrally stored copies of email on tape or backup disk) will be permanently deleted.

Q4. Are there any risks to saving all of this email on my local computer?
Yes, there are risks saving this “data” on your local computer. If your email contains private-sensitive data or any other protected data it would fall under the University Handbook “Data Security Policy” (see http://www.indstate.edu/adminaff/docs/932 Data Security Policy.pdf#932.1). You would be responsible for making certain that any email containing protected data would be deleted from your email or email archive. There are no exceptions to this policy and you could be subject to disciplinary action by the University if you do not remove it. You could potentially be subject to two Indiana laws that were passed in 2006; IC 4-1-10 (Release of Social Security Number) and IC 4-1-11 (Notice of Security Breach). These two laws make it a Class D Felony if you knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly release unencrypted personal data. This means you can be held personally liable and charged with a Class D Felony if you have unencrypted personal data stored on your computer and someone breaches it.

Q5. Should I back up my personal archive once it is on my computer?
As with any data that is stored on your computer, if you do not want to lose it you should back it up. There are many ways to back up your archive and data such as an external hard drive or DVD/CD. Once you back up your archive and data you should store it in a secure location. Your area consultant can assist you if you need help.

Q6. Should I keep email older than 180 days?
This depends on your current business processes in your department.

Q7. How do I keep email older than 180 days?
Depending on whether you are using a Windows or Apple based computer will determine how you proceed.

Apple Users: Apple’s Mail.app and Microsoft’s Outlook 2011 e-mail client software lack a live archiving feature, which is the ability to automatically archive your e-mail messages. Outlook 2011 does not currently support an archiving feature while Mail.app does support archiving but the feature is not directly schedulable and would result in a large number of very small archives for each individual. The best solution identified for Apple users is to maintain the cabinet as a local resource and to regularly clean out the Inbox. Only messages left in the inbox older than 180 days would be subject to the retention policy. Using this solution will allow you to only access Inbox email when using the web client (OWA) or a second computer. OIT will continue to investigate auto-archiving solutions for Apple users, but we strongly recommend that you contact the OIT Help Desk at x2910 to set up an appointment with your OIT Consultant. This will allow us to assist you in setting up the local folders and give you sufficient time to become acclimated to the process before the June 30th deadline.

Windows Users: The following site provides some excellent tutorials that will allow you to set up a local archive: http://www.indstate.edu/oit1/userservices/ithelp/Retention/retentionpolicy.html. You may also contact the OIT Help Desk at x2910 to arrange a visit from your area consultant.

Q8. What is Archive Manager?
Archive Manager was a tool that captured an instance of every email sent or received by all email accounts in the Exchange email system.

Q9. How do I export the email out of Archive Manager so that I do not lose it?
You do not need to do anything. OIT will provide a personal backup of your account on electronic media. A Consultant can assist you in connecting your personal backup to your email client.

Q10. Do I have to keep the personal backup of my email account that OIT provides?
You do not need to keep the personal backup. Retaining a copy of Archive Manager is a personal preference. If you decide that you do not want it, you should destroy the electronic media so that it is irretrievable.

Q11. When will Archive Manager stop collecting new email?
Archive Manager stopped collecting new email as of March 2, 2011.

Q12. Will I be able to store my local archive on the network?
You will not be able to store your local archive on the network. Storing your archive on the network would negate the policy of removing email older than 180 days that is stored centrally.

Q13. Is there a way to archive generic account mailboxes?
Yes, if you are the owner of the account you can attach it to your Outlook client and set it to archive along with your normal email account.