What happens when I delete an electronic document from my computer?
What happens is that the electronic file is removed from active files on your computer. It is often still accessible through the use of special data recovery tools designed to recover deleted data. Until the space on the computers hard drive is needed (and that may be for a long time with the size of hard drives on most PC's today) it remains on your computer and can be recovered.
What is electronic Discovery?
Electronic Discovery is the collection, preparation, review and production of electronic documents in the context of obtaining evidence for the legal process. doeLegal has developed the most comprehensive package to help you control the eDiscovery process: doeDiscovery tracks every document from initial container to final production. Never guess at your project's status. Use real-time reporting to control the work flow and timetables. Focus on what you need to in order to win the case; let doeLegal focus on the rest!
What is metadata?
Metadata is data about the document. It is stored in the electronic document, as opposed to being viewed as part of the documents content, but it can often be seen via a "properties" view. Examples of metadata include the author of the document, creation and revision dates and who it was sent to. When it becomes available, often as a result of a court order, it can provide information, such as blind carbon copy information, that is not readily apparent from the original electronic document. Many of today's more sophisticated software solutions read this metadata to aid in discovery and data indexing.
Always keep in mind that an electronic document has significantly more "invisible" content and audit trails than its paper counterpart.
Why is electronic discovery so important?
In today's digital world, the reach of electronic discovery has become very significant. The growth in electronic data can be illustrated by estimates that greater than 90% of all business documents are created electronically and almost 40% of those never reach paper. Email has become our primary form of business communication and this has created many unforeseen legal exposures. Record Retention and Management systems cannot easily address the impact of email and other forms of electronic communication. Let doeDiscovery be the tool that you trust to stay focused on your case, not the time and expense of needless review and analysis. Save time and money during the process stages that account for over 80% of the eDiscovery expenditures.
Because electronic document has significantly more content and audit trails than its paper counterpart, eDiscovery has taken the lead in many document retention policies and collection strategies. Be prepared for this prior to a litigation hold. For more information on this, sign up for our newsletter and get our exclusive white paper on eDiscovery emailed to you. With more and more companies and law firms being involved in eDiscovery these days, planned protection is your best defense.
What changes in legislation regarding electronic data for litigation have been passed?
• Amendments to the Federal Rules for Civil Procedure (FRCP) were enacted in 2006. The new revisions have a dramatic effect on how companies preserve, store, and produce eData for litigation.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also implemented new protocols for maintaining records for a specific amount of time on non-rewritable (WORM) media.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established new standards requiring all records be kept on portable formats that preserve the original content and meaning of the records for easy retrieval.
• The Health insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) passed requiring national standards be adhered to. All records must be stored in secure, electronic forms for at least two years.
• The International Standards Organization (ISO) released ISO15489 offering guidelines on classification, conversion, destruction, disposition, migration, preservation, and tracking of electronic records.
• The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) now controls the records retention for companies providing goods and services to the federal government to ensure timely and efficient access.
• The Patriot Act enacted a customer identification program (CIP) and set standards for customer identification for financial accounts.
