Every company wants to ensure that its records are secure. However, some records are more sensitive than others. For example, medical records, legal documents, and other privileged information must follow strict security protocols to protect clients and meet legal requirements. Government electronic records are no exception.
Document security must maintain the confidentiality of the information, protect the integrity of the records by controlling how those documents are changed, and still allow access to those authorized individuals who need to view or work with them.
Key Steps for Effective Government Electronic Document Storage
Fortunately, a well-designed document storage system can not only address these concerns; it can even make the process easier by automating certain parts of it. To secure your government documents while maintaining accessibility and compliance, you need to address the following areas.
Security Measures
The most obvious concern for storing government documents is security. It’s essential to have complete control over who has access to these records and what they’re allowed to do with them. Therefore, your document storage solution must have up-to-date security protocols and double-ended (also known as end-to-end) encryption.
Double-ended encryption means that the files are encrypted from the sender’s end, and only the authorized recipient can decrypt them. Virtually all data transfers need to make a stop between the two, usually at a server belonging to an internet service provider or telecommunications company. Double-ended encryption prevents them (or anyone else) from accessing your documents in transit.
For an added layer of security, consider a document storage provider that allows onsite storage. This means that your documents will be stored on your premises rather than on a cloud server. Onsite storage enables you to restrict access to anyone who is not on your local office network.
Accessibility
If you could load all of your sensitive documents onto a rocket ship and launch it into space, those documents would not be secure. They would be useless. The other side of the security coin is that the information you’re storing must be easily accessible to authorized users.
Your document management system should include the ability to search for the information you need by things like file number, keyword, or date. Electronic documents are fortunately not stored in filing cabinets in dusty basements, and your software needs to take full advantage of that fact.
You’ll also want a software solution that allows you to track document access and usage to maintain integrity. Then, if any questions come up in a legal proceeding, you’ll be glad you were able to provide the chain of custody information quickly and accurately.
Retaining and Destroying Records
Most government documents have strict rules about how long they must be retained and when they can (or must) be destroyed. Unfortunately, a flawed storage system can easily lead to documents being kept far longer than necessary, or worse, deleted before their expiration date.
With a proper document management system, these tasks can be automated for an easier, more efficient workflow. For example, you could put rules in place that would make it impossible to delete a record that is supposed to be retained. Bypassing such a rule could only be accomplished by a user with a high enough clearance.
Likewise, the system could alert the appropriate users when it was time to destroy a document. Instead of automatically deleting the file, an email notification would remind the user that a document’s retainment period was over. This system would take much of the burden off of employees while still maintaining compliance with government regulations.
Security and Compliance are Easier Than Ever
Go Find It has the software solutions to achieve all of these goals and more. Our software will help you upload, organize, and share documents with appropriate parties while remaining secure and compliant.
