Let us not forget the reasons why all organisations need healthy and robust information management systems.

This page is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of significant records management incidents or situations in which inadequate systems and poor practices contributed to the magnitude of the disaster. These examples can be incorporated into your business case.

This page contains the most recent Lest We Forget articles.

For the complete list visit the Lest We Forget Archives

Alteration of Records

Breaches of Privacy

Breakdowns in Accountability

Catastrophies

Deliberate or Illegal Destruction of Records

Inadequate Corporate Recordkeeping Systems

Inappropriate Disposal of Records

Non-compliance

Operational and Organisational Failures

Catastrophes

Thousands of records facilities worldwide have suffered damage in disasters. Organisations in Australia have been relatively lucky in comparison although many disasters have not been reported. Some of the disasters which have affected records include:

Paper warehouse destroyed in fire

In a remarkable coincidence two records storage facilities were destroyed by fire in the same week. A huge fire ripped through a six-storey paper storage warehouse in east London...Iron Mountain, the firm that owns the data storage unit, said it held "archived, inactive business records".

In the same week a second Iron Mountain warehouse in Ottawa, Canada, was also hit by fire. The fire at a warehouse in the Cyrville industrial area, believed to contain thousands of boxes of inactive records, was designated as accidental, the Ottawa Sun newspaper reported.

Source BBC Web site July 2006

Hurricane Katrina

There is a wealth of information on the web about the devastating loss of records resulting from Hurricane Katrina.

A vault filled with precious pre-civil war pictures, maps and documents cataloguing the history of the Gulf Coast community has been destroyed. The vault had been believed to have been waterproof but was not, thus most of the collection including town ledgers and old newspapers were lost.

Source CNN.com

Numerous paper records have been lost. Medical records detailing medications have been destroyed, as have records such as drivers licences, birth certificates, wills and insurance policies. Total destruction of this kind had not been planned for and the effects will be far reaching.

Source MSNBC.com

The hurricane leaves a legacy that will have major legal effects. Federal and state courts report a massive loss of legal records. The records from thousands of cases have been destroyed. Law firms in the affected area report the same major losses. Many legal records and items of evidence are not electronic and cannot be recreated. The ability to either prove, defend or appeal numerous pending civil and criminal cases may have vanished. This creates a massive legal limbo. The post hurricane litigation, which is likely to be astronomical, will be further complicated by this destruction of court records.

Source Boardman Law Firm September 2005

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Inadequate Corporate Recordkeeping Systems

Australian National Audit Office (ANA0), release report on recordkeeping in large commonwealth organisations

In September 2006, the Australian National Audit Office (ANA0), release a report entitled Recordkeeping in Large Commonwealth Organisations based on an audit of record keeping practices in four commonwealth agencies: Centrelink; Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Dept of Family & Community Services and the Department of Health and Ageing.

The report concluded that failures in recordkeeping left these agencies exposed to the risk that important data would not be captured and that records might be released or disposed of without authorisation.

Source Australian National Audit Office Website September 2006

FBI Says Files In Leak Cases Are ‘Missing'

The FBI is missing nearly a quarter of its files relating to investigations of recent leaks of classified information, according to a court filing made by the bureau.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the FBI said it identified 94 leak investigations since 2001, but that the investigative files in 22 of those cases "are missing" and cannot be located. "There is no physical slip of paper on the shelf which indicates that the file has been charged out to a particular FBI employee, so therefore there is no way of knowing where the file may actually be," an official in the bureau's records division, Peggy Bellando, wrote in a December 22 declaration.

Source The New York Sun December 27, 2006

Poor record-keeping plagues Bush AIDS effort

President Bush’s ambitious AIDS-fighting program in poor countries has pushed so hard for fast results that basic record keeping and accountability often went by the wayside, making it hard to judge the true success, according to government audits and officials.

Source MSNBC Dec. 25, 2006

APSC State of the Service report links recordkeeping to organisational capability

The Australian Public Service Commission report on the State of the Service notes that record keeping has attracted substantial attention in recent years.

Although there has been an increase in the transparency of record keeping, a number of reports have raised concerns about its quantity and quality, notably from the ANAO...In part, this increased attention has arisen because record keeping in the APS has been affected by greater public scrutiny through administrative law reform and parliamentary oversight over the past few decades.

Source Australian Public Service Commission State of the Service Report November 30 2006

White House Doesn't Know Number of Missing E-Mails

The Bush administration said it doesn't know how many e-mails written by White House aides are missing and a presidential spokeswoman wouldn't rule out the possibility that 5 million messages are lost.

The controversy over missing e-mails escalated this week as White House aides acknowledged they couldn't account for some messages sought by congressional committees investigating the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. A congressional investigator also reported that messages by top political adviser, Karl Rove, and other presidential aides written on Republican Party e-mail accounts may have been destroyed.

Source Yahoo News Fri Apr 13

Bush's National Guard File Missing Records

Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts.

Source USA Today 9/6/2004

One giant loss for mankind: NASA loses moon tapes

700 boxes of space flight tapes including five original Apollo moon landings have been lost, Australian scientist John Sarkassian from the Parkes Observatory revealed in his recent report. Sarkassian said he requested the tapes from NASA only to be told they were missing.

Originally stored at Goddard, the tapes were moved in 1970 to the US National Archives. No one knows why, but in 1984 about 700 boxes of space flight tapes were then returned to Goddard.

A desperate search has begun with the only equipment able to decode the analogue tapes held at the Goddard Center, which is set to close in October 2006. Scientists now fear the tapes will disintegrate before they are found and transferred into digital format.

Source Sydney Morning Herald August 2006

Deleted criminal records remain active in County's US$53 million system

Records of hundreds of expunged criminal cases that should have been permanently destroyed by court order remain active in Dallas County's new computer system.

Discovered about 60 days after the Adult Information System was launched, officials say there is no easy way to find and delete the expunged records and staff are manually deleting them as they find them.

Atos Origin, in charge of the US$53 million task of handling the mainframe, had no comment.

Source Dallas News August 2006

Cemetery’s poor record keeping causes plot mix up

A family in Arkansas are being forced to rebury their father two months after the funeral as the Cemetery discovered they had already sold the plot to another family. The town mayor called the incident simply an oversight and said he was trying to make the matter as painless as possible for all family members involved, however the daughter of the deceased describes the move as devastating, disrespectful and anything but painless.

City officials state they are now keeping cemetery records on computer in hopes of preventing the same mistake from happening again.

Source The Hometown Channel July 2006

US Drug Manufacturer pays US$950,000 for not keeping accurate records

New York drug manufacturer NBTY Inc. agreed to pay $950 000 after failing to obtain identification from customers to whom NBTY sold pseudoephedrine tablets. Pseudoephedrine tablets are legitimately used in small quantities as cold medication, however in larger quantities they can be used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine.

The court found on 385 occasions between January 1999 and May 2002 NBTY shipped large quantities of pseudoephedrine tablets to customers via mail orders, however failed to obtain proper records, making it impossible to track down, investigate, and prosecute methamphetamine manufacturers.

NBTY claims they co-operated with the Drug Enforcement Administration and publicly stated there was no valid basis for the claims asserted.

Source US Drug Enforcement Administration July 2004

Top 4 US Accounting Firms found to be poor record keepers

Initial investigation of America’s largest accounting firms reveal numerous rule violations and sloppy record keeping practices in a routine audit examination.

The report found Deloitte & Touche LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, KPMG LLP, and Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP negligent of obeying accounting rules and failing to preserve documents that backed up auditor’s work. However, Securities and Exchange Commission's chief accountant, Donald T. Nicolaisen, claims the inspections were conducted at a time when firms were adapting to a new regulatory regime. A full investigation has begun, and all firms have released statements welcoming Inspector’s forthcoming suggestions.

Source The Washington Post August 2004

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Non-compliance

Documentation and compliance critical for SMEs

A report recently released by CPA Australia says there is a direct link between poor record-keeping and the likelihood of an adversely amended tax assessment where a small business has been subjected to a tax audit. CPA Australia's Small Business Policy Adviser, Judy Hartcher, said that the report, Record-Keeping: Its Effect on Tax Compliance, proves that it pays for small business (SMEs) to have a good system in place, not only in the event of a tax audit, but also from a strong business management perspective.

Source Gilshenan & Luton Lawyers website Monday, July 25, 2005

American Red Cross fined US$718 000 for poor record keeping

The Food and Drug Administration has fined the American Red Cross Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Region office in Baltimore US$718,000 for failing to investigate and correct record-keeping irregularities. The investigation began after a Red Cross employee was found to be performing blood collection tasks they had not been trained for.

The Red Cross submitted a report but failed to disclose how many times the employee performed that task, or say exactly what the task was. Reviewing this report, the FDA notified the Red Cross of its failure to adequately investigate record keeping irregularities stating the erroneous record indicates a problem with the integrity of GCPR's records, and the incomplete investigation does not allow for adequate corrective measures, including measures to address systemic records integrity problems.

The Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Region office and the American National Red Cross refused to comment.

Source The Washington Times August 2006

Merrill Lynch & Co

Merrill Lynch & Co suffered a total loss of US$15.5 million after being sued for illegal trading and then failing to give evidence to the SEC at the time of investigation.

Merrill Lynch & Co failed to produce critical emails that provided evidence that day traders were illegally trading with information acquired from Merrill’s internal system, not yet available to other traders. Merrill joins the growing list of Wall Street firms that have suffered significant financial losses due to the poor management of electronic documents, including Morgan Stanley, whose fumbling of emails cost the company more than $1.4 billion in a lawsuit last year.

Source New York Post March 2006

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Breakdowns in Accountability

U.S. Demands Newark Return $6.9 Million in Housing Aid (after failing to provide adequate documentation)

Federal housing officials criticized the Newark Housing Authority for paying the City of Newark $6.9 million in federal money to add police and health services at its apartment buildings and then failing to document whether the residents ever received the extra aid.

The report, by the inspector general's office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, calls on the authority to recoup the money, paid to the city on Aug. 14, 2001, and April 9, 2002, and use it for housing. Saying the authority failed to provide adequate documentation to establish what services residents received, the audit suggests that the money was used to pad the city's budget.

Source The New York Times February 16, 2006

Treasurer requests probe of missing records

Nevada law requires the state treasurer’s office to preserve records for one year to 30 years, depending on the nature of the documents. But when Treasurer Kate Marshall took office Jan. 1, records — many no more than weeks, or even days old — could not be found.

Marshall has asked Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to investigate the “potential destruction of public records” that may have occurred in the previous administration.

Source Las Vegas Sun Politics March 17, 2007

The 'Sports Rorts Affair'

"The 'Sports Rorts Affair' is a celebrated Australian case that illustrates much about the relationship between poor recordkeeping and incompetent, negligent or corrupt public administration.

It involved the former Minister for Sports in Australia, Ros Kelly, her failure to account for decisions relating to the award of government grants to sporting bodies, and her inability to counter allegations that she had distributed the money disproportionately to marginal electorates to gain electoral advantage for the Labor Party. The Affair centered around the use of a whiteboard to record the process of decision making that went on in the ministerial office - and its subsequent erasure."

More information: James McKinnon, 'The "Sports Rorts" Affair: A Case Study in Recordkeeping, Accountability and Media Reporting", New Zealand Archivist, Vol. V, No. 4, Summer / December 1994, pp. 1-5.

Source John Curtain Prime Ministerial Library

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Operational and Organisational Failures

Missing records throw citizens into turmoil - two years of financial data may be lost

Louisiana's bulwark insurer of last resort has lost its financial records for the past two years, probably because of mishandling of its computer software program, the state's legislative auditor revealed to a group of high-level state officials and legislators Tuesday.

The board of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will hold a special meeting today at 2:30 p.m. to address the issue, which shocked many of those at the auditor's meeting because of the implications for customers, bondholders and the state insurance market's ability to cope with future catastrophes.

Source The Times Picayune, New Orleans Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Richard Gudewicz: Missing records, missing benefits

Michigan veteran Richard Gudewicz contracted Hepatitis C in 1974 during a blood transfusion at an Army hospital in Germany. But, because the VA couldn't find his records, they initially denied his claim

Source The Miami Herald

Ombudsman states Dept of Immigration and Multicultural Affair’s poor record keeping as a factor in the death of Aziza Agha

Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan exonerated the department of the harassment of Mrs Aziza Agha, however exposes DIMA’s poor record keeping as one of the large number of administrative deficiencies that contributed to the death of Mrs Agha.

McMillan acknowledged that the department’s actions had been stressful for Aziza, who died last August after being forced by immigration officials to travel 30 minutes from the suburb of Broadmeadows to Melbourne CBD for a medical examination. The elderly woman was suffering from anaemia, diabetes and arthritis. DIMA has since accepted all of McMillan’s recommendations, and their progress will be closely monitored.

The report is available from www.ombudsman.gov.au

Source Commonwealth Ombudsman April 2006

Extended child cruelty the consequence of poor record keeping

Child protection agencies in Sheffield, England, have been told poor record keeping and information sharing practices were contributing factors in the recent Askew-Whittaker child-cruelty case.

Professor Pat Cantrill conducted a review for the Sheffield Council and reported that poor record keeping and administrative processes of several agencies caused a failure to make sense of what happened to the children; and led to ineffective assessment and inappropriate care planning. Askew and Whittaker have since been tried and sentenced to 7 years prison.

Source BHJC February 2006

Computer glitch leads to customer details being attached to a bulk email

Vehicle Testing New Zealand is investigating a possible computer glitch after an email was sent out with an attachment that included the names and addresses of 1780 motorists.

The email was a registration reminder and the attachment contained the details of others who were also sent the reminder.

Source News Talk

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Deliberate or Illegal Destruction of Records

Countless White House E-Mails Deleted

Countless e-mails to and from many key White House staffers have been deleted -- lost to history and placed out of reach of congressional subpoenas -- due to a brazen violation of internal White House policy that was allowed to continue for more than six years, the White House acknowledged yesterday.

The White House yesterday said it has no idea how many e-mails have been lost.

Source Dan Froomkin, Washington Post April 12, 2007

Lidl destroyed records linked to discrimination probe

Supermarket chain Lidl destroyed records containing the age of job applicants when it discovered it was under investigation by the Equality Tribunal for age discrimination.The matter came to light during the investigation of a complaint by a 51-year-old man who said he was not interviewed for the job of district manager at Lidl because he was too old.

Source The Irish Examiner March 22 2005

US Consulting firm in court for disposing "virtually worthless" records

Records management firm Moran Consulting violated state public records law when they destroyed interview notes and other documents used to prepare an audit during the investigation of data theft at Ohio University.

The university did not authorise Moran to dispose of the records and say the error was acknowledged after a request was made to get copies of the materials.

In a statement President Charles Moran said I apologise; we just didn't know, saying they believed the records to be virtually worthless however the $85 000 contract Ohio University has with Moran Consulting specifies that the school maintains ownership of all reports and all supporting materials according to Ohio public records law.

Source WCPO July 2006

Pan Pharmaceutical Boss in court for destroying drug test records

Founder of Pan Pharmaceuticals Jim Selim faced a Sydney court last March for allegedly ordering the destruction of records that were needed in future court proceedings.  Prosecutors claim Selim ordered IT manager Karl Brooks to destroy manipulated test results of a recalled drug, however the jury was asked to disregard Brooks as a reliable witness as he is the one who made the claim. The trial continues.

Source ABC News Online March 2006

British American Tobacco

McCabe v British American Tobacco Services Ltd brought to our attention Justice Geoffrey Eames who struck out British American Tobacco's defense in the Victorian Supreme Court, citing that the creation and implementation of a document retention and destruction policy was prejudicial to the Claimant's right to a fair trial. The Victorian Court of Appeal (6 December 2002) overturned the decision of the Victorian Supreme Court, but the cost to British American Tobacco was still high given that their public image suffered as a result of the first decision.

Source Victorian Supreme Court

Arthur Anderson conviction overturned

The Supreme Court has ruled that Arthur Anderson was convicted, without proof that its shredding of documents was deliberately intended to undermine a looming Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry in Fall 2001. The government had not proved that the company knew they were breaking the law and therefore the conviction was overruled.

Source: The Washington Post

Fidelity Investments fined US$2 million for encouraging employees to destroy records

Fidelity Investments was fined US$2 million dollars after it was discovered that staff working for numerous branches of the brokerage arm of the company had been encouraged to alter or destroy records. The aim of this illegal destruction of documents was reportedly to achieve better scores in the company’s annual inspection.

Source: thestreet.com

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Alteration of Records

SEC Charges Three Former KPMG Auditors for Altering Audit Working Papers

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled administrative actions finding improper professional conduct by a former KPMG engagement partner and senior manager for failing properly to complete the audit of Tenet Healthcare Corporation's fiscal year 2002 financial statements and for making after-the-fact modifications to the audit working papers which created the false impression that the audit had been adequately performed.

Source US Securities and exchange Commission Website Washington, D.C., March 30, 2006

Martha Stewart found guilty of altering records

Martha Stewart was convicted today of obstructing justice and lying to the US government about a superbly timed stock sale. Stewart was not charged with insider trading; instead, she and her broker were accused of lying about the transaction and altering records to support the alleged cover story.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

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Inappropriate Disposal of Records

Prison files destroyed ahead of Freedom of Information Act

Prison authorities in the North of Ireland destroyed 52,382 files in the months before the Freedom of Information Act was introduced, the records included security files of terrorists held at Maze Prison. The data included prisoner records, policy notes and medical logs and was disposed of before the January 2005 law making public bodies more transparent. This is not the first time Maze Prison has been accused of inappropriate destruction of records, in 1997 it came to light that 800 security files on terrorist prisoners released under the Good Friday Agreement were also shredded.

Source Ireland On-Line December 12 2006

'Confused' Police doctor dumps 700 documents in street bin

Dr Kameran Kader, a former surgeon at the Charles Cross Police Station in Plymouth was accused of misconduct after he left some 700 confidential documents ripped up by a bin in the Lidget Green area of Bradford.

The discovered documents included personal details of sex abuse victims, a witness statement from a victim of child abuse, records of patient examinations, patients' blood test results, and forms containing suspects' names and addresses.

Dr Kader told the court he did not know how long he was supposed to keep his records and said I was quite confused at the time, before revealing he sat in his car, ripped up the papers and put them in carrier bags before dumping them in a bin.

Dr Kader remains under supervision and subject to conditions specified by a General Medical Council for the next 18 months.

Source: Yorkshire Post May 2006

US Attorney dumps old records in Park Dumpster

Detectives are investigating US attorney James Madison Woods after more than 100 legal documents were found in a park dumpster in Shreveport, Louisiana. The dumped documents contained significant amounts of personal information including medical records and X-rays that contained social security numbers, which Detectives say is perfect for identity thieves. The Louisiana Bar Association is also investigating the incident.

Source Channel 6 News, K-TAL TV March 2006

Medical Records found blowing on Edinburgh Street

Acorn Healthcare Services are in hot water after client records containing private medical information meant to be binned and shredded were found scattered alongside a busy road.

The papers disclosed names, ages, dates of birth, addresses and medical conditions such as mental illnesses and physical disabilities, clients' routines and where they kept their medication. Acorn clients whose records were found are now concerned with their personal safety, with the possibility of identity theft and break and enter a potential threat.

Source Scotsman News March 2006

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Breaches of Privacy

24 ATO staff sacked over privacy breaches

The Australian Taxation Office has taken action against twenty-four of its staff members for inappropriately accessing client files last financial year, with another three recently under investigation.

ATO spokesperson Anne Ellison said the ATO had installed a system to monitor unauthorised access to high-profile taxpayers including celebrities and sportspeople. Out of the twenty four employees caught spying, twelve resigned on the spot, four were sacked, two were fined and six had their salaries cut or were demoted. Only two in the group were ultimately prosecuted for breaches of the Tax Administration Act, with one sentenced to community service and the other receiving a fine.

Other Federal Government agencies including Medicare Australia and the Child Support Agency are reviewing the systems they use to protect confidential information as a crackdown against privacy breaches.

Source Australian IT August 2006

Centrelink staff inappropriately access client files

A Centrelink Australia investigation has uncovered 790 cases of inappropriate access to the records of welfare recipients since 2004, The Australian newspaper reports.

Almost 600 staff were detected in the electronic survey making inappropriate access to files, and five of the cases have been referred to the Australian Federal Police for possible prosecution.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald August 2006

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