Robert Smallwood, Managng Director, Institute for IG

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The leaks of classified documents from the White House, and 'missing' Secret Service text messages, are due to poor Information Governance practices.

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA, September 22, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The leaks and alleged misappropriation of classified documents from the U.S. federal government, as well as the claim that Secret service text messages surrounding the January 6 uprising in Washington D.C. went missing, are the result of poor information Governance (IG) practices, claims Robert Smallwood, Managing Director of the Institute for Information Governance. Smallwood, a leading expert on IG, is the author of, "Information Governance: Concept, Strategies and Best Practices, 2nd Edition" (Wiley, 2020) and seven more books on IG topics. He stated, "With good Information Governance, all documents and records are tracked and controlled, and there is a 100% audit trail of who accessed which documents, and when. And that includes printing out hard copies. Misplacing, losing, or stealing classified documents would not be possible with proper Information Governance practices in place."

Information Governance, or IG, is an emerging discipline that takes a holistic approach to governing information. IG includes aspects of records management, cybersecurity, privacy, data governance, eDiscovery and FOIA, and more. The goal of IG programs is to minimize information risks and costs, while maximizing information value. "In short, IG is security, control, and optimization of information," Smallwood stated.

IG first entered the mainstream in the 2000-2001 time frame, when the UK National Health Service (NHS) started requiring IG training for all staff who handled patient clinical information. It has now matured and become a more formal discipline, with the advent of ISO 24143: 2022, the new standard for IG, established in May, 2022. That new standard emphasizes information risk mitigation.

"Also, the idea that those Secret Service texts just were 'wiped away' when cell phones were changed or a new system was put in place, is a complete falsehood. Those messages are still around - on a server, on backup tapes - or, heck, doesn't the NSA keep all those messages?" Smallwood asked.

Information Governance may be one of the most crucial issues of our time. Poor IG processes and practices are what led to the ability to misplace or even steal highly classified documents. It is also the cause of the Supreme Court brief leak.

Smallwood is the host of the podcast, "IG Talk w/ Robert Smallwood," and is Chair of InfoGov World Conference 2022, an educational event, which will take place virtually on the 29th and 30th of September, from 7:00am to 5:00pm EST (12 Noon to 10pm London Time). The Trans-Atlantic conference targets all privacy, security, eDiscovery, and Information Governance (IG) professionals, across industries. This virtual event will have over 80 expert speakers from the cross-functional IG discipline. InfoGov World 2022 will be held in a unique immersive 3D virtual reality environment. Interested participants can register for the event at no cost here: https://infogovworldconference.vfairs.com/ There are also conference session passes and press passes available.

About InfoGov World

InfoGov World is a media services company that unifies the Information Governance (IG) community with a common voice. It provides a suite of educational and marketing services including digital advertising, surveys, White papers, webinars, and podcasts for corporate messaging to members of the IG community. https://infogovworldconference.com/

Robert Smallwood
Institute for Information Governance
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