STATE LAWS ON OPTICAL IMAGING

We are only missing 4 states that have not responded and therefore we do not have any information on whether they allow for optical images as evidence in court. I have noticed a number of states are writing regulations to their state agencies on how to use this new technology called document imaging. When we have received this information we posted it in the appropriate state section. The state's still listed with an asterisk *, it means we haven't yet found the laws for optical imaging.

The purpose of this section is to educate the Value Added Reseller, Corporate Information Director, IS Manager, Government Information Officer, and Corporate Executive involved with managing agency or enterprise information, or thinking of installing a document imaging system. The first thing to remember is that in order for you to have a legal database you must SET THE INFORMATION IN TIME. This is why many of the state's laws say the media type MUST be an UNALTERABLE MEDIA.

The document imaging business is about ten years old, yet only over the past three years have states included "optical images" as an acceptable way of storing information. We do not know if there have been any court cases that have challenged evidence stored in a document imaging system yet, but we are sure it will eventually happen when a company has stored images on magnetic media only and are using that evidence in court. What will happen is this: The opposing attorney will challenge the authenticity of the evidence, and the court will probably throw out the evidence. This will probably cause the company to lose the case -- and maybe millions of dollars. This is why it is important that companies and government agencies learn to how to implement document imaging correctly.

You may think that what kind of media the information is located on has little relevance. Most Information System departments try to get the fastest performance from their databases; CD ROMs and WORM drives are much slower than hard drives. So, data is usually placed on magnetic media without thought to the legal ramifications. The reason that legal documents must be on unalterable media is because graphics software has gotten so good -- someone could put your signature on any contract and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a genuine signature. It is possible to alter images down to the individual pixel and to distort or edit them in such a way as to make them completely believable. Because of this flexibility, it is important to set up systems within your company or agency that will ensure that the procedure used to make the CD ROM or WORM disk can be defended.

Which Media to Choose:

Two types of media are acceptable: WORM discs (Write Once Read Many) or CD ROM discs. Because WORM media, drives and jukeboxes cost as much as 10 times or more than CD media and equipment, we believe that WORM technology will disappear within 4 years after the new DVD standard for CD-ROM discs has been tested and proven reliable. We do not recommend to our customers to purchase WORM drives. Because of the cost, portability, and common industry standard format of CD discs, we believe they are a much better choice. Go to CD Media section

Basic Laws and Authorities of the National Archives and Records Administration