King County councilmembers move to stop auto-deleting instant messages

King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Rod Dembowski introduced an ordinance Thursday to end the county’s practice of automatically deleting instant messaging sent between county employees.

The proposed legislation would preserve these messages as part of the public record. The two councilmembers are concerned that messages that should be public are not being maintained for the public record.

“As communication technology advances, it’s important that King County adapts its records retention policies to reflect the reality of how instant messaging platforms are used by county employees,” Dunn stated in a news release. “Transparency is critical to safeguard trust in government, and any electronic record of discussions over policy issues needs to be preserved and made accessible to the public.”

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Microsoft Teams often used for instant messaging

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant amount of communication between county employees has shifted to Microsoft Teams instant messaging. Currently, King County’s policy is to automatically delete these messages after 17 days, while other forms of written communication, such as emails, handwritten notes, and text messages, are maintained for public records.

“In 1972, Washington voters passed the Public Records Act. Back then, it was paper files that were protected for public review. But today’s office has evolved significantly, including with instant messaging systems on many computer desktops,” Dembowski said in the release. “While I do not use the Teams messaging system, many county employees do, and depending on settings and archiving practices, there is a risk that records that should be retained are not retained.”

Dembowski says the ordinance ensures “that King County fully complies with our state’s strong public records law and that our public records retention laws and policies at King County reflect the changing technological landscape of today’s workplace.”

Governor wants instant messages kept

Governor Bob Ferguson recently acted to suspend the automatic deletion of instant messages at state agencies after a $225,000 settlement against the Department of Children, Youth and Families. It was accused of destroying potentially thousands of public records.

The King County legislation would align with the new state policy. If a message is to be deleted, it would first be reviewed for compliance with King County’s current record retention policies, under the ordinance.

The ordinance will be referred to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee for review in the coming weeks. If approved by the Council, it would go into effect on July 1, 2025.

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