Imagine the excitement you might feel when you hear that your company has finally decided to rid itself of a frustratingly antiquated electronic data management and storage system. Not only is the current system outdated, but it is also increasingly difficult to find anything due to the backlog of old and/or irrelevant files. The new system, your company tells you, will be more efficient and navigable than ever. Of course, it is not until the system's rollout that you discover that this improvement includes a very distinct feature: work product "disappears" almost immediately after creation or use unless you intentionally save the files to the system. The new system incorporates technology from popular "disappearing apps." Although workable in theory, you ask yourself, how can this not be problematic when you know the company is in the middle of multiple litigation proceedings?
As is the custom in today's world, technology is ever-changing and advancing, and companies are constantly looking to enhance their systems with the newest, fastest and seemingly trouble-free programming tools. But sometimes, change comes with a cost. And sometimes, the cost might even be data breaches that result in the loss of sensitive information. Disappearing apps have permeated the business world as a "fix" to the risk of data breaches. But this fix brings with it an onslaught of legal issues to consider. Here, we explore potential legal ramifications for companies switching to this new style of system.
Before analyzing these compliance nightmares, it is important to understand how these types of systems operate.
I. The Evolution of the "Disappearing App"
In 2011, a newly created software application ("app") called Snapchat took the world by storm. Teens and young adults across the world flocked to the app store on their various mobile devices to download this new, free app that allowed users to exchange messages, pictures and, eventually, videos. Unlike the simple short message service ("SMS") or iMessage that we had all become accustomed to, Snapchat added and marketed a distinct feature that changed cyberspace forever: the messages, pictures and videos sent through the app automatically and permanently delete within seconds of being opened by the recipient. Snapchat's rise to fame was meteoric. A mere two years after its launch, both Facebook and Google offered over $3 billion to acquire Snapchat.1
Snapchat and its previously unheard-of automatic deletion feature set the stage for similar apps, such as Burn Note, BeReal, Cyber Dust, Signal, WhatsApp and Wickr - all of which feature disappearing messaging capability. Messages that automatically disappear after a short period, whether by default or through settings, are known in the industry as "ephemeral messaging." Some of these more common disappearing apps show just how prevalent ephemeral messaging is in today's society:
- Burn Note2 - a private messaging app originally designed for the confidential exchange of business information. The app allows users to send messages that are then immediately deleted after being read only once. Uniquely, the sender can also set a time limit for how long the recipient has to read the message before it deletes. But perhaps its most distinguishing feature is the fact that...
