Recent headlines have brought ephemeral messaging apps into focus for information management practitioners. With two separate incidents where U.S. Department of Defense leadership shared confidential information via disappearing message platforms, the conversation about these tools has never been more urgent.
It's timely that AIIM has just published a new white paper "When Messages Self-Destruct: The Hidden Risks of Ephemeral Communication for Information Governance" by AIIM Fellow and Award of Merit recipient John Newton that explains ephemeral communications and their impact on information management and governance.
The use of self-destructing messaging apps by government officials isn't just anecdotal. An Associated Press review across all 50 states found accounts on encrypted platforms registered to cellphone numbers for over 1,100 government workers and elected officials. This widespread adoption raises serious questions about records management and transparency.
As Newton points out in his white paper, "For leaders in government and regulated industries, the lesson is that we must evolve our practices to meet this reality, without abandoning the principles of accountability. It's not an either/or choice between using secure messaging and maintaining records – it's about finding a way to do both."
Jesse Wilkins, CIP and AIIM Fellow, provides a clear definition in his blog post on the topic: "As the name suggests, messages sent using these apps are very ephemeral and generally self-delete automatically, either upon being read or after some (very short) period of time. Most of these apps delete the messages from all devices automatically, but some apps allow for configurability of the delete process, for example, increasing the time to 7 days instead of immediately."
This characteristic of automatically disappearing messages creates unique challenges for information governance professionals, particularly when it comes to record-keeping requirements.
One of the most pressing questions for information professionals is fundamental: Do ephemeral communications count as official records?
Newton explains that by law and principle, most public records laws say it's the content of a communication, not the medium, that makes it a record. An official decision conveyed in a Signal message is supposed to be as much a record as if it were sent on government letterhead.
The problem is that these ephemeral apps, by their very design, challenge this principle. When messages disappear by default, organizations face significant challenges in preserving institutional memory and meeting regulatory obligations.
What makes navigating this landscape particularly complex is the conflicting guidance from various government entities regarding ephemeral communications.
How do you balance convenience and efficiency with compliance and transparency? This question sits at the heart of the challenge.
Newton's white paper illustrates this tension through a case study where senior U.S. officials coordinating a military operation inadvertently invited a journalist into their encrypted Signal group chat. This incident not only represented a security failure but highlighted the broader record-keeping challenge: how is institutional memory preserved when communications vanish by design?
While apps like Signal, WhatsApp, and Snapchat offer real-time collaboration advantages, they create significant blind spots in documentation. Organizations need to consider implementing proper governance frameworks that recognize the legitimate uses of these tools while ensuring important communications are preserved.
As Newton suggests in his white paper, the solution isn't prohibiting these tools outright but developing proactive governance approaches that anticipate their use. This might include deploying enterprise versions of secure messaging with archiving capabilities or creating processes to capture key decisions made in ephemeral channels.
Australia's four-point recommendation framework offers a practical starting point:
The white paper "When Messages Self-Destruct: The Hidden Risks of Ephemeral Communication for Information Governance" is available now from AIIM. For information professionals navigating this rapidly evolving landscape, it provides critical insights into balancing modern communication needs with enduring governance principles.
AIIM members are able to download a copy of the white paper in the Member Resources Library. We also encourage members to join the conversation about this white paper in our online community. Not a member? Join today.