By the IRS's own code of conduct they violated the law...
http://libertyunyielding.com/2014/06/17/irs-manual-explicitly-governs-email-backup-retention/After the revelation that Lois Lerner’s emails went missing when she spilled coffee on her laptop (I made that part up), I began wondering what type of email infrastructure the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) might be using. Surely, as with nearly every other government agency, all email is stored in a centralized server using something like a Microsoft Exchange platform or equivalent. The messages in your inbox are simply a reflection of your messages as they exist on the server. This model exists for the express purpose of preventing data loss and providing universal access.
For example, I could lose my laptop or the hard drive could catch fire but it doesn’t matter, my emails are safely stored externally on a server somewhere in a data center. That server, undoubtedly, is protected by numerous fail-safe methods such as drive mirroring, daily (if not hourly) backups of data, and the ability to be replicated and restored should that server itself fail or suffer hardware damage. In short, there is no conceivable way that an entire chunk of emails from a specific period in question have gone entirely missing simply because a desktop or laptop computer “crashed,” as the IRS put it.
Luckily, you don’t have to go further than Google to learn a little something about how the IRS expects employees and their own internal information technology department to handle email and other sensitive data. Do a little searching and you’ll come across something called the Internal Revenue Manual, or IRM. This publication includes information divided into thirty-nine parts, which are then subdivided into hundreds of sections and subsections governing every single aspect of the tax-collecting agency.
Of particular interest to me were the sections on email guidelines, data archiving, and security compliance. According to Part 1, Chapter 10, Section 3, “Standards for Using Email,” there is in fact an email archiving procedure in place. In subsection 1.10.3.3.1 of Section 3 title Don’t Slow Down the System, the manual instructs all IRS employees to refrain from sending large attachments since they will be archived with the message and will eventually fill up the server causing performance issues as well as headaches for systems administrators.
Refrain from sending large attachments to work groups or audiences. Remember every email message and any attachments, embedded graphics and photographs require a copy for each Exchange server store where each recipient’s mailbox resides. [Emphasis added]
Instead store the document on an IRS public web archive or SharePoint repository and insert a hyperlink into the message. Ensure the permissions allow access by all recipients prior to sending the message.
The definition of HYPOCRISY is when one expects others to keep to a standard which they themselves don't even keep... The IRS expects Tax payers to follow the letter of the law... YET THE IRS REGULARLY BREAKS THE LAW... They are criminals and should be tried and hanged as traitors to this country.
Topic: IRS Chief: ‘I Don’t Think an Apology Is Owed’ for Lost Emails. (Read 415 times)