Washington Policy Brief - July 2010
July 2010
$8.8 Billion Spent to Protect Classified Data in 2009
The United States spent $8.8 billion in fiscal 2009 to secure classified information, according to a report by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). More than half of this budget, $4.8 billion, was allocated to guard electronic data, primarily to protect IT systems from unauthorized access and against denial of service attacks. ISOO is part of the National Archives and Records Administration and is responsible for policy and oversight of the federal government’s security classification system.
ARMA International Washington Policy Brief, July 2010
http://www.arma.org/news/policybrief/index.cfm?BriefID=4406&Type=W
ARMA International Testifies on Federal Electronic Records Management
ARMA International was invited to provide testimony on “Federal Electronic Records Management: A Status Report” to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee on June 17, 2010. The panelists reviewed the status of management of electronic records at federal agencies and explored ways to improve the scheduling and preservation of electronic records.
Carol Brock, CRM, represented ARMA International regarding the management of electronic records in federal government agencies during the hearing. Based on her extensive knowledge of federal electronic records, Brock, who has been an ARMA International member for more than 23 years, testified to the challenges agencies face in scheduling and preserving electronic records. Additionally, Brock suggested a position of chief records officer for each agency as a way of increasing recordkeeping reliability. She also addressed the role of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in oversight of federal records.
At the hearing, ARMA International reinforced its concept of the Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles® (GARP®) as a solution to federal agency records management challenges. During her testimony, Brock recommended, on behalf of ARMA International, that GARP®’s bedrock records management principles should be integrated into the operation of every federal agency.
Also testifying to the congressional subcommittee, although not as representatives of the association, were ARMA International members Gregory S. Hunter, Ph.D., CRM, and Paul Wester. Hunter has been a member since 2005 and is an associate professor of library and information science at Long Island University. Wester joined ARMA International in 2004 and is the director of the modern records program for NARA.
The U.S. House of Representative’s webpage with a complete listing of the testimony from the hearing is available here.
http://www.arma.org/news/policybrief/index.cfm?BriefID=4408&Type=W
Court Rules Companies Can Search Employees’ Electronic Communications
According to a post by Fisher & Phillips LLP on the Lexology website:
“On June 17, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a public employer’s search of an employee’s text messages was reasonable and did not violate the employee’s constitutional rights. The decision overturned a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which found the employer’s search was unreasonable in scope and, therefore, violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures (City of Ontario v. Quon -.pdf). The decision marked the first time the Supreme Court has considered the privacy protections applied to text messages and helps to define the boundaries of privacy protections in electronic communications.”
ARMA International Washington Policy Brief, July 2010
http://www.arma.org/news/policybrief/index.cfm?BriefID=4415&Type=W
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Last updated: 06/03/2010