FRCP 2006 edition – ESI and emphasis on digital forensic capabilities
A majority of the amendments in the FRCP 2006 edition will impact the ways through which organizations used to handle information storage. Electronically Stored Information (ESI) has been recognized as a new way like never before.
Reasons to develop digital forensic capabilities
The changes will require the organizations to be capable of effectively handling digital forensic activities for their own sake. Some of the most likely effects include:
- Provision of document
As mentioned in the 2006 amendment, the government should be aware of the various developments in the IT infrastructure of the organizations. For this reason, the organizations would require to undergo a documentation process for all of its IT-related developments and submit it to the government (Ruhnka & Bagby, 2010). Without practical skills, this task can be a hard job for organizations to handle. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
- Submission requests
Another one of the noteworthy amendments in the FRCP includes the ways that information would be treated. It is because all of the organizational documents have been made liable to requests for submission in the court of law. Since the 2006 edition came into action, the organizations are required to store all information electronically. The treatment for ESI without expert capabilities can be severe, keeping the fact in mind that the liability for submission requests is equal for all documents.
- Answering to requests
Despite all documents being liable for submissions, the organizations are also awarded some liberty as per the changes in the FRCP. Any document can be requested for submission in the court of law; however, the organization can choose not to answer a specific request. They have the right to choose the requests that they would answer. In this context, it must be mentioned that they cannot discard all requests and must have a valid reason to discard the request that they choose not to answer (Volonino, Sipior & Ward, 2007). If the documents are inaccessible or have been lost due to a routine activity of the organization’s goodwill, they may refrain from submitting such a document under request. The organization thus must have an adept digital forensic expert capable of making such decisions and choose which request they should answer to and the one that they should discard and why.
- Responding to requests
Once the decision to answer or discard a specific request has been made, it is necessary for the organization to respond to the request in the form of electronically stored information as well. This is unless the court of law requests the document in any other specific form. While making such a response to requests, it is crucial for the organizations to be sure that they do not submit any documents that are more than necessary. An effective digital forensic capability can help them to prepare the best response to such requests keeping the organization’s safety in mind (Ward et. al., 2009).
All of the above-mentioned aspects created an increased emphasis on the organizations to be capable of handling digital forensics. In the coming days, more emphasis will be laid on ESI, and the organizations must develop their capabilities in the field.
Reference
Ruhnka, J. C., & Bagby, J. W. (2010). Using ESI discovery teams to manage electronic data discovery. Communications of the ACM, 53(7), 142-144.
Volonino, L., Sipior, J. C., & Ward, B. T. (2007). Managing the lifecycle of electronically stored information. Information systems management, 24(3), 231-238.
Ward, B. T., Purwin, C., Sipior, J. C., & Volonino, L. (2009). Recognizing the impact of e-discovery amendments on electronic records management. Information Systems Management, 26(4), 350-356.