Can we trust our public officials with email? Earlier, I reported on former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s use of public free email accounts for government business (against policy and a very bad idea), premature deletion of email in Texas, and President Bush’s missing emails (which should be part of the national archive). Now, a computer technician has testified that former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo wiped emails from computers. Do we need to take away our politicians’ email and give them pen and paper?

Actually, restricting them would do very little. Politicians have a long history of hiding and destroying information, long before email existed. Remember Nixon and the infamous “tape gap”? What there needs to be is more oversight and technical checks and balances. Such things are technologically feasible, but not widely implemented.

The latest episode concerning Mr. Fumo, who is currently being prosecuted for corruption, came up this week when a computer technician testified in court that he had used sophisticated software to permanently wipe out any traces of previously deleted emails. A second technician also stated in court that he had sent an email to staff reminding them to never save any emails received from Fumo, and that he would check staff computers from time to time to make sure that all of Fumo’s emails had been deleted.

What are these guys up to that they feel the need to delete official communications on this scale? Of course, the answer is, “up to no good.” Government does have rules and regulations regarding retention of all documents, which include emails, and these must be followed–and the best way to do that is through the automated use of email archiving software in all government offices.