GAO finds holes in e-mail habits.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - United States. Government Accountability Office

According to a report released in April by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), large gaps exist in key agencies' e-mail management and storage policies.

"Preliminary results of GAO's review of e-mail records management at four agencies show that not all are meeting the challenges posed by e-mail records," said the report, which examined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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While the four agencies' e-mail records management policies generally addressed regulatory requirements, these requirements were not always met by the 15 senior officials whose e-mail practices were reviewed for the report. Each of the four agencies generally followed a print-and-file process to preserve e-mail records in paper-based recordkeeping systems, but for about half of the senior officials, e-mail records were not being appropriately identified and preserved in such systems, the GAO found. Instead, e-mail messages were being retained in e-mail systems that lacked recordkeeping capabilities.

The government's e-mail practices have been scrutinized since the controversial firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year, when White House officials were criticized for their handling and alleged deletion of e-mails. A judge ordered the White House to keep backup copies of millions of e-mails that were allegedly deleted, and Congress is investigating the executive branch's e-mail practices.

The GAO report, which is part of testimony to the House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reveals that agencies typically print out e-mails and store them in physical files, despite the availability of e-discovery technologies. GAO officials said printing copies of e-mails can lead to...