Chat Platform Message Retention Project
Quicklink(s)
Starting December 20, 2024, OIT will implement a 1-year retention policy for UCI campus Google Chat, Microsoft Teams Chat, and Zoom Chat messages.
Overview
Starting December 20, 2024, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will implement a 1-year retention policy for Google Chat, Microsoft Teams Chat, and Zoom Team Chat messages. This means that past chat records in those systems will automatically be deleted 365 days after their initial creation.
This policy complies with the existing policy defined in Records Code 1 of the University of California Records Retention Schedule and there will be no exceptions. Any content that must be retained beyond the 1-year retention period should be extracted and saved elsewhere before that point (for instance, in a locally stored text document, a Google document, or other storage location appropriate for that content).
IMPORTANT: Any chat content that is not deleted (either manually or due to this policy) could be subject to request and required to be produced under a qualifying circumstance under the California Public Records Act.
Affected Tools
Listed below are types of records that are included or excluded under the 1-year retention policy, grouped by system:
1. Google Chat
Included
- All Google Chat messages
Excluded
- Not applicable; all Google Chat content is subject to this policy
2. Microsoft Teams Chat
Included
- Microsoft Teams chat messages (individual and group chats; see FAQ)
- Chat messages posted in Teams meetings
- Copilot for Microsoft 365 (AI) chat messages
Excluded
MS Teams Chat message components that are not subject to this policy and are not automatically deleted include:
- Files sent in a chat message, which are automatically uploaded to the OneDrive account of the user that sent the file.
- Posts made in a channel within an instance of a team (see FAQ on Channel Messages).
3. Zoom Team Chat
Included
- All messages
- Shared files are handled as part of the message. If the message expires, the link to the file will be deleted, but if the user has downloaded the file, the local file will remain on the local device.
Excluded
- Not applicable; all Zoom Team Chat content is subject to this policy
Chat messages should only be used for transitory messages and not official UCI business
Transitory messages are messages that are created or received to pass along information of very temporary value and that are not otherwise subject to a longer retention schedule.
Chat tools are never recommended for long-term information storage. Important information that should be preserved for longer than one year should be stored in other ways, such as in a locally stored Word document, a UCI Google document, OneDrive file, or other location appropriate given the nature of the content in question.
Timeline for chat message auto-deletion policy
- Day 0: Chat message sent
- Day 2-365: Chat message remains available (unless manually deleted by the sender)
- Day 366: Chat message is removed automatically
For example, a chat message’s deletion timeline might look like this:
- Day 1: 12/19/23: Peter Anteater sends a chat message
- Day 2-365: 12/20/23-12/19/24: Unless deleted by the user, the message remains for one year
- Day 366: 12/20/24: the message is automatically deleted
UCI users send over 1.2 million messages in a typical month. Currently, chat messages are only deleted when the sender intentionally deletes a chat message or once all chat participants have had their services removed according to account lifecycle. Most chat messages are intended to be short-lived, but there is no practical way for users to delete chat messages in bulk.
Why is a retention policy needed?
Under Records Code 1 of the University of California Records Retention Schedule, transitory records are to be retained for no longer than one year after their administrative use ceases. The 1-year retention policy ensures UCI is in compliance with this policy.
Student, Employee, Patient, and Research Subject Privacy: A 1-year retention policy helps safeguard student, employee, patient, and research subject privacy by limiting how long chat messages that may contain sensitive information such as personally identifiable information (PII) exist. Automatic deletion of chat messages reduces the risk of unauthorized access or misuse of personal information. Although highly secure, chat messaging is not designed to address long-term access or data management issues needed for sensitive information or records retention.
Efficient Resource Management: UCI has over 265,000 accounts in its Google Chat, MS Teams Chat, and Zoom Chat environments. This includes students, faculty, staff, contractors, and other affiliates. With over 1.2 million chat messages generated monthly, managing storage resources efficiently becomes crucial. A 1-year retention policy helps optimize storage capacity, reduces associated storage costs, and helps users avoid running out of mailbox space to store copies of chat messages.
User Performance: Limiting chat message retention to 1 year reduces Teams client performance issues caused by long chat message histories that need to be retrieved by clients and cached locally.
Records Management: By setting a 1-year retention policy for chat messages, it makes it clear to users that chat messaging is only designed to be used for collaboration, extracted data, informal notifications and communications, logs, organizing/monitoring work in progress, published reference materials, requests for information, and other transitory information that may be disposed of without a specific retention period according to UCI’s records management services guidance on transitory materials.
Streamlined Search and Discovery: Limiting chat message retention to 1 year makes it easier to locate and access relevant information when needed. It reduces the volume of data that needs to be searched, facilitating faster and more targeted discovery during legal or internal investigations.
| Date(s) | Implementation |
|---|---|
| August 26, 2024 | Publish retention policy on OIT website |
| November 13, 2024 | Send Zotmail to MS Teams users |
| December 20, 2024 | Retention policy is applied. (It may take up to 5 days to be fully synchronized in the Microsoft cloud.) |
| December 25, 2024 | Retention policy is in full effect in the Microsoft Cloud |
Project Status
- Percentage Complete 50%
Project Phase
Executing
Communities Affected
- UCI Campus
- College of Health Sciences
Start Date
July 2024
Projected Completion Date
December 2024
Key Stakeholders
- Client: Google chat, MS Teams, and Zoom chat users
- Sponsor: Henry Jenkins
- Project Manager: Heinz Yu
Frequently Asked Questions
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Used to keep first accordian closed.
What is a transitory record?
Transitory records document routine general office activities. In this context, the word “routine” means activities related to the typical internal operation of an office, including: staffing, administrative procedures, systems, and communications. They do not serve as documentation of the establishment of unique programs, functions, units, or a campus, nor record fiscal obligations to demonstrate accountability or document important historical decisions of the University.
In Microsoft Teams, what is the difference between individual and group chat messages and Team channel messages?
Individual and group chat are messages sent using the Chat option in MS Teams. They include messages sent to one or to many people. These messages are not part of any Team, even if the group chat includes all members of a particular team.
Individual and Group Chats
Individual Chat Example
Group Chat Example
Channel Messages
Teams are made up of one or more channels that are controlled by security groups, and may have restrictions on who can modify membership. Messages posted from the Teams option are considered Team Channel messages, rather than chats.
Team Channel Message Example
What happens when multiple retention policies exist?
The shortest retention policy controls when messages are deleted. For example, if an individual has a 30-day retention policy in effect for their individual and group chats, and posts in a group chat that has someone with a 14-day retention policy, all messages in the group chat will be removed after 14 days.
The policies are completely separate for individual and group chats versus team channel messages. Regardless of what policy a user has for their individual and group chats, it will not affect their messages posted in a Team Channel. Similarly, a policy set on a Team will only affect messages in those Team Channels, it will not affect chats sent by any team member outside those channels.
How can I export Teams chat messages?
As of August 2024, Microsoft has not released a way to export entire chat messages from the enterprise version of the Teams service, unlike the consumer version of Teams.
How can I save a copy of my Teams chat messages?
Microsoft has not released a way to export an entire chat message thread from the enterprise version of Microsoft Teams. Chat messages can be copied and pasted to a document or can be emailed one message at a time.
Copy and Paste Method
Using the mouse, highlight the text to copy, then copy (CTRL+C) and paste (CTRL+V) the selected text to a Word or a text document.
Share to Outlook
-
- Using the mouse, hover over the message. Click on the three ellipses (…) in the menu to the right of each chat.
- Select “Share to Outlook” and an email containing that message will open. The email can be addressed to yourself, another person, or a group of people.
Note: This can only be performed on a SINGLE message at a time. Multiple messages must be sent one at a time.
- Using the mouse, hover over the message. Click on the three ellipses (…) in the menu to the right of each chat.
Is it possible to recover Teams chat messages to their original state after they have been deleted?
No, once messages have been deleted, they cannot be recovered.
I have documents (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) shared in my Teams chats. Will these be deleted?
No, files will not be deleted. Files shared in chats are stored in OneDrive and SharePoint Online and are not affected by the retention policy.
What is the difference between Zoom Teams chat vs in-meeting Zoom chat?
Zoom Teams chat refers to messages exchanged through the Zoom Teams app. These conversations do not occur within any particular Zoom meeting, but can be exchanged by any Zoom Teams users at any time, no meeting required.
Zoom in-meeting chat refers to messages exchanged during a Zoom meeting. These conversations occur within a specific Zoom meeting and are exchanged by meeting attendees.
How does one export or save Zooms Team chat or Google chat?
How do I get Support?
If you have any questions regarding this retention policy, please contact us via email.