NARA Bulletin 2007-02

April 30, 2007

TO: Heads of Federal agencies

SUBJECT: Guidance concerning the use of Enterprise Rights Management 

(ERM) and other encryption-related software on Federal records

EXPIRATION DATE: April 30, 2010

1. What is the purpose of this bulletin? This bulletin provides guidance 

to Federal agencies on records management implications of their use of 

enterprise rights management (ERM) and other software employing 

encryption technologies. It advises agencies that:

• Use of ERM and other encryption-related software on permanent 

records is prohibited at time of transfer of legal custody to NARA; and

• Use of these technologies on temporary records can impede and 

in some cases abrogate traditional records management controls. 

2. What is enterprise rights management? Enterprise rights 

management (ERM) software manages and enforces information access 

policies and use rights of electronic documents within an enterprise; its 

development has been predicated on digital rights management (DRM) 

technology. Digital rights management (DRM) was developed to provide 

a systematic approach to copyright protection for digital content, 

generally by means of a suite of software employing the following 

technologies: identity/role management, privilege management, tamperdetection, and cryptography. Using ERM, creators of digital content may 

assign rights to future users to take subsequent actions on that ERMprotected content (e.g., opening, printing, editing, copying, or forwarding 

the content).

3. How does ERM work? ERM is established on an organization's policy 

server as a set of "rules" that are applied to content created in that 

environment. Rules specify the rights of individual users to take actions 

on particular digital content. When users operating in such an 

environment create content requiring ERM, they apply rules from the 

policy server (e.g., "Allow this memo to be edited by members of my 

workgroup during the next 3 days, but do not allow the memo to be 

shared outside of this group. At the end of 3 days, automatically dispose 

of all copies.") The selected rules applied to a piece of digital content are 

then unalterably bound to that content. When other individuals attempt 

to access that content, the client software contacts the policy server to 

verify those individuals' access rights. ERM-protected content can easily 

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be identified by information in the file header. 

4. How does encryption work? Encryption is a technology that may be 

deployed independent of ERM. It is the conversion of data into a form, 

called ciphertext that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized 

people. This reversible conversion process, which is basically a 

mathematical transformation of the underlying bitstream, is 

accomplished by use of a "key." Keys are long prime numbers that are 

input into the encryption algorithm to either encode or decode the data. 

Encrypted records are easily recognized in their ciphertext state as they 

are unintelligible. 

5. Why is NARA concerned about the use of these technologies? 

Application of ERM or encryption technologies to digital Federal records 

could impair the ability of agencies to fulfill records management 

responsibilities under 36 CFR 1224.1. 

6. How do ERM and encryption technologies impact agencies' 

records management obligations? A variety of records management 

concerns are evoked by the use of ERM technology to digital Federal 

record content. These include: 

• "Expirations" of documents set by individual creators might be in 

conflict with authorized retention periods; 

• Without appropriate policies in place, an agency might receive 

ERM-protected materials generated outside of the government (e.g., 

contractors, business, the Public) which do not afford sufficient rights 

to the Government to conduct its business using that material (e.g., 

FDA drug applications); 

• Application of inappropriate or outdated rules to ERM-protected 

content may result in the records being inaccessible when needed for 

agency business; 

• The hardware/software-dependence of ERM protected materials 

may make it difficult to ensure access to long-term records to which 

this technology is applied; or 

• Keys belonging to individuals encrypting files may be lost (e.g., 

through negligence or employee turnover), thereby resulting in the 

potential loss of access to Government record information. 

7. If my agency deploys ERM or encryption technologies, what advice 

does NARA have? NARA suggests agencies choosing to deploy ERM 

or encryption technologies take steps to evaluate the effect that this will 

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have on records management practices and consider instituting policies 

and procedures that will minimize adverse consequences. These could 

include: 

• Not applying ERM protections to permanent Federal records. 

• Establishing ERM screening mechanisms for received content 

originating outside the agency. 

• Providing training to content creators so that rights and conditions 

assigned to content are in agreement with agency records 

schedules. 

• Where possible, establishing default rights and conditions at the 

ERM server which are in agreement with disposition authorities and 

preventing these from being overridden at the content creator's 

desktop. 

• Developing business cases for deployment of ERM technology 

that adequately fund maintenance of long-term, ERM-protected 

materials. 

• Establishing key recovery/escrow mechanisms and procedures 

that will ensure access to encryption keys applied to agency records 

during the entirety of their active lifespan. 

8. Will NARA accept permanent records with attached ERM policies?

No. As part of the accessioning process, NARA will routinely scan 

electronic records during accessioning for ERM protection. If such 

content is encountered, the records will be rejected and returned to the 

originating agency for removal of the ERM protection. 

9. Why is NARA prohibiting the use of ERM and encryption 

technologies to permanent records it legally accessions? NARA's 

holdings need to be preserved and made accessible, in perpetuity, to a 

variety of users. Use of these technologies on permanent materials is 

antagonistic to that mission: escrow and recovery of keys used to 

encrypt records would also substantially complicate access. 

Furthermore, in-house maintenance of ERM platforms is not only 

prohibitively expensive, but also contrary to software/hardware 

independence objectives of the Electronic Records Archives program. 

10. What actions must agencies take prior to transfer of permanent 

records to which ERM or encryption technologies has been 

applied? If agencies have either encrypted or applied ERM controls to 

permanent Federal records, it is their responsibility to remove such 

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controls on the record copies before they are transferred to NARA. If this 

capability is not inherent to the ERM or encryption environment, 

automated processes will have to be developed to remove ERM 

protections from bodies of records prior to transfer to NARA. Records 

that have been encrypted may only be transferred in an unencrypted 

state.

11. Is assistance available from NARA?

a. NARA's Life Cycle Management Division provides assistance and 

advice to agency records officers in the Washington, DC, area. Your 

agency's records officer may contact the NARA appraiser or records 

analyst with whom your agency normally works. A list of the 

appraisal and scheduling work groups is posted on the NARA web 

site at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/appraisal/. 

b. The Records Management staff in NARA's regional offices provides 

assistance to records officers across the country. A complete list of 

NARA regional facilities may be found at 

http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html.

c. If you need more general information about the contents of this 

bulletin, please contact Mark Giguere, Lead IT (Policy & Planning) 

for Modern Records Programs at mark.giguere@nara.gov or on 

301-837-1744. 

ALLEN WEINSTEIN

Archivist of the United States

Contact Us Accessibility Privacy Policy Freedom of Information Act No FEAR Act USA.gov

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272 

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