Email Archiving

In this digital age, the shift away from paper and toward digital formats has created some confusion when it comes to rules and regulations regarding business email storage. Since these are virtual documents, companies can easily make the mistake of underestimating their importance and deleting them simply because they presume they aren't needed anymore. But doing so can lead to hefty fines (millions of dollars) or even criminal proceedings, as professional emails with commercial and/or legal content are considered, for all intents and purposes, documents that need to be stored carefully for a certain period of time.

Ten years ago, regulations were put into place that require all businesses to keep electronic records of business data, including emails. These email archiving laws in the United States require businesses to keep copies of emails for a specific period of time. These retention laws include federal laws that apply to all businesses and organizations, data retention laws that only apply to specific industries, and many email archiving laws that are state-specific. Examples of email retention laws that businesses must comply with include IRS Regulations, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Freedom of Information Act. These laws require data to be properly archived so that it can be easily searched through if needed. Email archiving isn't just for convenience – it's a legal necessity. Using adequate archiving methods for storing digital documents ensures that business emails are properly preserved in full compliance with the regulations regarding quality, integrity, security, privacy and inalterability. Therefore, email archiving tools are optimal solutions that make it easier to comply with legal archiving requirements and at the same time keep all digital documentation safe.

The length of time an email needs to be kept for depends on the email retention law. The IRS Regulations apply to all companies and require emails to be stored for 7 years, and the same goes for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In general, the retention period ranges from one year (for credit card and related processing companies) up to a lifetime, depending on which industry is involved. Even if you're sure that your company is adhering to federal email retention policies, it's still a good idea to check with your legal representative to make sure your business is also complying with state and local government laws.

In principle, archiving emails of a commercial and/or legal nature is a task for all businesses in the US, without exception. Depending on the industry, some companies need to adhere to more email retention policies than others. Publicly traded companies, for instance, need to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, while healthcare and insurance providers must meet HIPAA requirements. It's of utmost importance to check which regulations are significant for your particular company or sector.

The ability to access and recover data is important for companies of all sizes. Your company can either rely on data backups or archiving, but what is the difference between the two? You need to find the best method of email retention for your company.

A backup is a copy of data, which can be used to restore the original in case your data is lost or damaged. Data loss can happen due to hardware failure, human error, or a natural disaster – saving your data with an email backup means you're prepared for these worst-case scenarios.

An archive is a collection of records that is stored long-term and can be accessed in the future if a certain piece of information is needed. Since archives usually contain data that isn't currently being used, it frees up space elsewhere, easing the burden on faster and more frequently accessed data storage systems. In other words, an archive holds original data that has been removed from its original location.