The National Archives and Records Administration is backing away from a CIA proposal to destroy some employee emails.
The CIA had asked NARA in August if it could destroy certain employee emails as it transferred its email system from Lotus Notes to Outlook Exchange, and at the time NARA decided that the destruction of non-senior employee emails wouldn't present an issue because the information was almost certainly captured in other CIA records.
But after consulting with members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and other outside groups NARA is now more concerned about the scope of the proposed destruction and the CIA's proposed email transition schedule, according to a Nov. 20 letter.
The initial approval by NARA also stated the records would probably have little value, according to the documents, which were obtained by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.
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Paul Wester, the chief records officer and director of NARA's modern record programs, said to CIA official Joseph Lambert in the letter that NARA will instead discuss the issue more with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to assess the broader implications of the proposed move.
"My staff and I look forward to working with the CIA to develop a capstone email schedule that meets CIA's business needs, while protecting the rights and interests of the U.S. Government and its citizens, and assures the preservation and access of permanently valuable records for future generations," Wester wrote.
The original NARA appraisal of the CIA proposal noted in passing that "The agency's current email policy is to print and file" rather than to save email in an electronic format.
