Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 324 retain and store official records within its own records management system. After consulting with Central Services, Social Services determined that retrieving the email records from the backup tapes would be too costly and time-consuming; therefore, it was unable to provide the Commissioner with the pertinent records. The Commissioner recommended that Social Services develop an email management policy or procedure and work with the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan to develop a records retention schedule to ensure compliance with The Archives and Public Records Management Act and ensure records are accessible for the purposes of FOIP. 4. Designate staff as records management personnel In large offices where many staff perform a variety of functions, it can be challenging to determine who is responsible for individual records. This challenge may grow over time, as staff change positions or leave the organization. This can become especially problematic when access requests are received. If records have been abandoned, it can be extremely difficult for staff to identify the appropriate individuals and offices to conduct a search. Designating staff as records management personnel can help to address this issue. Records management personnel are individuals or a group that is responsible for maintaining specific records or types of records. Depending on the nature of the records and the size of the organization, records management personnel may be an individual, a work unit, or even a large branch. However, it is a best practice to identify a specific position or group that is most familiar with the records to be responsible for carrying out maintenance actions and responding to requests regarding the records. When records management personnel for the organization have been identified, document the designation, and make the document accessible to others in the organization that may need-to-know. This can be done in several ways, depending on the types of records. For example, consider using metadata. Metadata is descriptive information about a data set or record which can easily include contact information for the responsible records management personnel. For some types of records, it may be appropriate to designate records management personnel in job descriptions, file plan documentation or simply as a note on a shared drive. It is important to remember to keep this information up to date, changing designations and contact information as necessary. The key point in designating records management personnel is to ensure that records are appropriately managed and maintained over time to prevent records from being mishandled, lost, or forgotten.
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