Tech as Metadata Policy Enforcement
Posted by Toby Brown
October 30, 2007
Recently I’ve taken a position with a large firm based in Houston, Texas. Of course large firms bring challenges along with opportunities when it comes to legal technology. One of the more encouraging pieces of technology I’ve seen here in my first few weeks is called iScrub from Esquire Innovations. In addition to being a worthy metadata removal tool, I have come to appreciate our firm’s implementation of the product.
Its integration with Outlook enables policy enforcement, to a greater degree. Any out-going emails that contain Word (or other predefined attachments) receive a pop-up prompting the user to select one of three options. These options are: 1) Full metadata removal, 2) Partial removal, or 3) No removal at all. The third option is primarily for documents sent internally. There is even an option to view the metadata prior to its removal.
Having given countless presentations on the dangers of metadata (most recently to disciplinary counsel), I have come to appreciate the significant lack of knowledge by many lawyers on the issue. Having lawyers aware of the issue is merely step one. Getting them to acquire and use good metadata management tools is step too. Having them create good policies and use technology to enforce those is a big step to step three. So I was pleasantly surprised to see our firm already on step three. Whether you use iScrub or another product, I highly encourage this thoughtful approach to using technology as a policy enabling tool.