When in Doubt, Don’t Delete: A Lesson for Everyone in eDiscovery.
Author: Eric Everson, MBA, MSIT-SE, J.D. Candidate (May 2013)
The legal community is well aware of the growing mountain of
case law that stresses the importance of preserving versus destroying digital
documents. As the recent post via IT-Lex.org
reminds us all, whether you are in the legal community or not, do
not delete.
Recently, the artist that created the famous HOPE poster for
the first President Obama election survived an entangled web of legal pummeling
for deleting key files relevant to a civil litigation case involving his now
famous artwork. Deleting these computer
files resulted in a guilty plea to criminal contempt and the artist (Shepard
Fairey) got two years of probation and 300 hours of community service. The moral of this debacle is to preserve
rather than delete your files.
As a software engineer turned law student, I can attest that
the very essence of computer mechanics and physical data storage establishes
that digital files are never really
deleted. In fact, while data may be inscribed
in one data storage registry, secondary evidence of the file is often archived
throughout the hard drive. Even software
created to clear hard drives for retiring computers does not actually destroy
the files, but rather hides them in the recesses of the hard drive.
Let us all learn from this digital document blunder, that
deleting files can have profound consequences.
For commercial computer users especially, a proper data preservation
strategy should always be at the forefront of retiring technologies.
#eDiscovery #infosec #bizlaw #ITLaw #TechnologyLaw #IPLaw #Obama
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About the Author: Eric Everson is a 3L law student at Florida
A&M University – College of Law.
Prior to law school he earned an MBA and Masters in Software Engineering
while he serving ten years of executive leadership in the U.S.
telecommunications industry. The views
and opinions presented in this blog are his own and are not to be construed as
legal advice. Eric Everson currently
serves on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Law
Student Division and is the President of the Electronic Discovery Law Student
Association at Florida A&M University – College of Law. Follow @IntleDiscovery
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