Policy on Deletion of Messages on Apps: FOI release

Information requested

Under the terms of the FOISA 2002 legislation, I wish to request copies of all documents that contain the following information:

• The Scottish Government policy, referred to by various witnesses at recent hearings of Covid inquiries, which sets out when officials and members should delete routine or other messages on apps such as WhatsApp, etc.
• The date of the introduction of the policy. The details of the consultation or parliamentary processes that preceded the introduction of that policy.

Response

Please see the link to the policy: Mobile messaging apps - usage and policy: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The policy was developed in November 2021.

Please see a previously published response covering your first two questions: Policy and guidance on mobile messaging apps: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Also, the Scottish Government’s long-standing, over-arching Records Management Policy has always been clear that regardless of the source medium, information relevant to the corporate record must be saved. This was complemented by the Scottish Government Mobile messaging apps – usage and policy guidance linked above.

Corporate policies do not require a formal parliamentary process or consultation. They are formulated by internal subject matter experts and then circulated for comment and feedback to a wide range of internal stakeholders before being approved by senior staff.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.