iPads Saving Cities Paper Costs - But at What Cost?
A recent article in USA Today is headlined “iPads Saving Cities Paper Costs.” The story focused on the cost savings that may result from the use of iPads for internal as well as external communications of cities. The difficulty, as noted by a spokesperson for the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, is the communications on iPads (or iPhones and similar devices) do not necessarily create a record. The Coalition spokesperson was quoted by USA Today as identifying a critical issue in many states, including Washington: “Records generated are subject to disclosure, but we don’t have a mechanism for getting those records from an iPad.”
The State of Washington, like many states, broadly defines public records. The conduct of government business, whether by letter, email, text or other electronic message, may constitute a public record and governments are responsible for maintaining policies to assure public access to such records. One approach to record management is a requirement that a copy of messages relating to government business be sent to a government server.
The Washington State Office of the Secretary of State, applying that state’s Public Records Act, reminds Washington’s governments that the conduct of government business using iPads or iPhones does give rise to a public record of that communication and is to be kept consistent with the government’s record retention policy.
For additional assistance in this regard, see the Secretary of State website at:
http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/ and recordsmanagement@sos.wa.gov.
Thanks for advancing this issue further. I think it will be an important one for lawyers, as it will ultimately impact the ability to get records through e-discovery. I'm not anti-iPad (or any other kind of technology): I just want government agencies to think about the public access implications before embracing new technology.
Megan Rhyne (the "spokesperson for the Virginia Coalition for Open Government" mentioned above)