CREW: Regarding Record Management and Cloud Computing (6/24/2011 FOIA Requests)

On June 24, 2011, CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Department of Veterans Affairs, General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, seeking all records reflecting how these agencies and departments plan to fulfill their records management requirements after they move their email systems to a cloud computing environment. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has recognized the many records management challenges associated with cloud computing and issued guidance (NARA Bulletin 2010-04, Guidance on Managing Records in Cloud Computing Environment) to all agencies. Several of these agencies and departments have already moved their emails to a cloud computing environment, or are in the process of moving their email systems to a cloud. Others are still in the information gathering stage. CREW seeks information on what steps these agencies and departments have taken to comply with the bulletin as well as records between these departments and agencies and cloud computing providers, such as Google or Microsoft.