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Some of the links on this site may resolve to non-governmental agencies. The information on these pages is not controlled by COT or the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
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When did state employees begin using an e-mail system?
The first significant deployment of e-mail was in the late 1980's when the Department of Information Systems offered it to other state agencies as a billable service on the state's central mainframe computer. The first agency to use it on a broad scale was the Cabinet for Human Resources (CHR), now known as the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Most CHR employees across the state had access to a mainframe terminal and they began to use the e-mail system to communicate internally between themselves and the central offices in Frankfort.
All state agencies began using e-mail systems in mass during the 1990's. As PCs came into wide use during this time, the state's mainframe-based e-mail system was eventually discontinued and replaced with Microsoft's e-mail product, originally known as Microsoft Mail, which had the capability to send external e-mail to people outside the state government organization. Microsoft Mail eventually became the Microsoft Exchange product in use today by state agencies.
Where are state government's e-mail messages stored?
There are basically two ways e-mail can be stored by a state government user. If the user stores an e-mail or item in the “Outlook Today” or main “Outlook” folder, it is stored on a COT-maintained Microsoft Exchange server. At the end of the day, if that item is still in any of the “Outlook Today” folders, it will be backed up by COT. The message is stored and retrievable for ten (10) days by COT and then deleted completely from COT systems. The ten-day period is COT standard operational procedure and based primarily on cost considerations.
It is important to note that the “back up” COT performs each night is essentially a snapshot of what resides in the user’s “Outlook Today” folder, including what may still be in their “Deleted Items” folder. If, at anytime a user deletes items from the “Deleted Items” folder, then that item is not retrievable unless it was previously captured on a backup.
The second way e-mail can be stored is by the user storing it in his/her “Personal” folder (.pstfile). In that case the message or item is actually being stored on either the user’s computer or a network server maintained by his/her agency. If the user does not delete any messages in his/her personal folders, they will still be retrievable in that folder (.pst file) whether it resides on his/her computer or the agency network. Each agency has their own procedure in place for backing up or storing messages on their network servers. And again, if, at any time a user deletes items from the “Deleted Items” folder, that item is not retrievable, unless it was previously captured on a backup.
What is a tape backup? How is the information stored? What do the tapes contain?
A tape backup is a snapshot copy of a database taken at a specific instant in time, usually at night. The information is stored on high-capacity magnetic tapes. The tapes essentially contain an exact copy of the information stored in the database.
Does COT keep a backup of every e-mail generated by every state computer?
No. State agencies are responsible for retaining copies of their own e-mail data, according to the agency's record retention policies. COT performs nightly backups of the enterprise e-mail database, but this is done for the purpose of ensuring the continued availability of the enterprise e-mail service, not for records retention purposes. In addition, it's important to note that not all agencies utilize the enterprise e-mail system. Some agencies administer their own e-mail systems (listed below, at the bottom). Also, e-mail messages that were deleted and then emptied from the deleted folder prior to a backup may not be captured on a backup tape, depending on the timing of the deletions.
How long does COT retain e-mail backups?
COT performs a backup of the enterprise e-mail database each night and retains those backup tapes for ten days. At the end of the 10-day cycle the tapes are reused, overwriting the data stored on them, beginning with the first tape. After the data has been overwritten it is impossible to recover it, and it is permanently gone.
What about phone records and BlackBerries? What records does COT retain on these and for how long?
COT's policies require the retention of long distance phone records and cell phone records for seven years, although current cell phone records only go back two years. The information stored on BlackBerries is controlled by the individual users of each agency.
What happens when an employee deletes e-mail messages? Are they gone forever? How are they purged?
When a user deletes an e-mail, it goes into their "Deleted Items" folder. The item will remain in the "Deleted Items" folder until the user (or an administrator) empties the folder. When a user empties the “Deleted Items” folder, then those e-mails are not retrievable unless they were previously captured on a backup.
Are nightly backups taken in order to retain deleted e-mail messages?
The nightly e-mail backups are not specifically intended to capture deleted e-mail messages. Rather, the backups are primarily used to protect against a catastrophic failure of either the e-mail equipment or the e-mail management software (Microsoft Exchange). The backups are taken to ensure that e-mail messages would not be lost if such a failure occurred. In most cases, but not always, deleted e-mails can be retrieved by recovering them from the nightly backups within ten days.
The nightly backups make a copy of all e-mail messages residing in the enterprise e-mail database at the instant the backups are executed. This includes any messages that still reside in a user's "deleted items" folder at the instant the backup copy is made. If a user has "emptied" or purged their "deleted items" folder, the deleted e-mail messages will be gone and will not be copied during that evening's nightly backup process. Thus, if a user receives an e-mail message today, deletes the e-mail message, and then empties their "deleted messages" folder before leaving for the day, the message will not be captured on the nightly backup copy and can never be retrieved from the user's e-mail folders.
Users can also store e-mail messages on their individual desktop computers or on a distributed server located in their agency. E-mail messages stored in these locations are not backed up by COT, and are controlled entirely by the individual or their agency.
Are there circumstances where a deleted e-mail message cannot be recovered?
Yes, under some circumstances deleted e-mails cannot be recovered. Deleted items can be retrieved for 10 days if they're ever captured on a backup. As described above, there are certain situations where a deleted e-mail message doesn't get captured on a backup, and thus can never be retrieved. The best example is the one given above where an e-mail message is received, gets deleted on the same day it's received, and then the user's "deleted items" folder is emptied later that same day. Because the deleted e-mail message is not found in any folder when the nightly backup is taken, it cannot possibly be captured on the backup. In this case, the message is gone forever (as far as the recipient is concerned).
The sender's copy of the e-mail is another case, and must be considered separately. Once the message is sent, a copy is retained in the sender's "sent items" folder until it is removed. If a user sends a message, then deletes the message from the "sent items" folder, and subsequently empties their "deleted items" folder during the same day, then the sent message will not be captured on the nightly backup of the sender's e-mail folders. Any chance of recovering the message will depend on what the recipient of the message did with it, as previously discussed.
Thus, as described above, there are many possibilities for determining the location of a specific e-mail message. When one considers the fact that users (both senders and recipients) also have the option of storing messages on their desktop or laptop computer's hard drive, on their BlackBerry PDA or on a server in their agency, the number of combinations and permutations of possibilities becomes even larger.
Which state agencies do not use COT's e-mail system?
The following agencies operate separate e-mail systems and are not subject to the COT procedures referred to above:
- Auditors Office
- Big Sandy Area Development
- Boone National Guard Center
- Department of Disabilities Determination Services
- Department of Education
- Department of Juvenile Justice (soon migrating to COT's e-mail system)
- Department of Hard of Hearing
- Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Office of the Attorney General
- Office of the Courts
- Kentucky Retirement Systems
- Legislative Research Commission