Funded by the Foundation
Abstract
To arrive at an informed analysis, this paper begins by briefly exploring the role of metadata in authentication of records. This analysis will help the reader put in perspective how metadata ultimately could affect the admissibility of a record or document in court, and thus lead to an understanding of what and why certain metadata is critical. Next the paper will explore the general concepts of metadata and spoliation, including the leading legal think tank opinions on the issue. The paper then will address recent concrete examples where the courts have ruled on the discoverability of metadata. Finally, the paper will conclude with a list of discernible patterns of preservation requirements for information governance professionals to glean in setting policies and procedures regarding the capture of metadata for both records management and e-discovery preservation. Given the limited treatment of the issue in courts, this paper will focus on the typical varieties of applications that yield documents or records where metadata is most often sought or litigated. These include email (and attachments), word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentation documents (e.g. Power Point), graphics, animations, images, audio, video and public records. From discussion of these samples, the reader may be able to glean metadata fields to preserve for more customized applications or even enterprise-wide systems that facilitate record-keeping.