Approach for deleting electronic documents on network devices using document retention policies
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for deleting electronic documents, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- at a network device, receiving a signal indicating that a retention policy audit should be conducted;
in response to the signal, performing the retention policy audit on the network device byretrieving document retention policy data that specifies, for each of a plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more corresponding electronic document types and one or more deletion criteria that include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents that are associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types should be maintained,identifying, from the plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more electronic document classifications for which the corresponding time duration is satisfied,identifying one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types,causing the deletion of the one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types, andgenerating audit report data that indicates results of performing the retention policy audit; and
if a determination is made that an electronic document that is both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types is stored on a removable medium that is not currently accessible, thenattempting to cause the removable medium to be made accessible, and if the removable medium can be made accessible, thencausing the electronic document to be deleted from the removable medium, andupdating the audit report data to indicate that the electronic document was deleted.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An approach is provided for deleting electronic documents using a document retention policy that specifies one or more deletion criteria for documents belonging to each of a plurality of document classifications. The document retention policy is defined by document retention policy data that is managed by a document retention policy manager. The document retention policy manager disseminates the document retention policy data to network elements over a communications network. The document retention policy manager determines whether a retention policy audit should be performed and if so, signals the network elements to conduct a retention policy audit. The network elements are configured to conduct the retention policy audit by deleting electronic documents in accordance with the document retention policy. Automatic or manual loading or auto-destruction code may be used to handle deleting electronic documents from removable media.
63 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for deleting electronic documents, the computer-implemented method comprising:
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at a network device, receiving a signal indicating that a retention policy audit should be conducted; in response to the signal, performing the retention policy audit on the network device by retrieving document retention policy data that specifies, for each of a plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more corresponding electronic document types and one or more deletion criteria that include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents that are associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types should be maintained, identifying, from the plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more electronic document classifications for which the corresponding time duration is satisfied, identifying one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, causing the deletion of the one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types, and generating audit report data that indicates results of performing the retention policy audit; and if a determination is made that an electronic document that is both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types is stored on a removable medium that is not currently accessible, then attempting to cause the removable medium to be made accessible, and if the removable medium can be made accessible, then causing the electronic document to be deleted from the removable medium, and updating the audit report data to indicate that the electronic document was deleted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium for deleting electronic documents, the computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
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at a network device, receiving a signal indicating that a retention policy audit should be conducted; in response to the signal, performing the retention policy audit on the network device by retrieving document retention policy data that specifies, for each of a plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more corresponding electronic document types and one or more deletion criteria that include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents that are associated with the electronic document classification and that are of the one or more corresponding electronic document types should be maintained, identifying, from the plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more electronic document classifications for which the corresponding time duration is satisfied, identifying one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, causing the deletion of the one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types, and generating audit report data that indicates results of performing the retention policy audit; and if a determination is made that an electronic document that is both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types is stored on a removable medium that is not currently accessible, then attempting to cause the removable medium to be made accessible, and if the removable medium can be made accessible, then causing the electronic document to be deleted from the removable medium, and updating the audit report data to indicate that the electronic document was deleted. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for deleting electronic documents, the apparatus configured to:
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at a network device, receiving a signal indicating that a retention policy audit should be conducted; in response to the signal, performing the retention policy audit on the network device by retrieving document retention policy data that specifies, for each of a plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more corresponding electronic document types and one or more deletion criteria that include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents that are associated with the electronic document classification and that are of the one or more corresponding electronic document types should be maintained, identifying, from the plurality of electronic document classifications, one or more electronic document classifications for which the corresponding time duration is satisfied, identifying one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, causing the deletion of the one or more electronic documents that are both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types, and generating audit report data that indicates results of performing the retention policy audit; and if a determination is made that an electronic document that is both associated with the identified one or more electronic document classifications and of the one or more corresponding electronic document types is stored on a removable medium that is not currently accessible, then attempting to cause the removable medium to be made accessible, and if the removable medium can be made accessible, then causing the electronic document to be deleted from the removable medium, and updating the audit report data to indicate that the electronic document was deleted. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A computer-implemented method for deleting electronic documents, the computer-implemented method comprising:
in response to detecting an operation to store an electronic document on a removable medium, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be stored on the removable medium, causing the time data to be stored on the removable medium, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document from the removable medium on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be stored on the removable medium. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium for deleting electronic documents, the computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
in response to detecting an operation to store an electronic document on a removable medium, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be stored on the removable medium, causing the time data to be stored on the removable medium, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document from the removable medium on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be stored on the removable medium. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for deleting electronic documents, the apparatus configured to:
in response to detecting an operation to store an electronic document on a removable medium, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be stored on the removable medium, causing the time data to be stored on the removable medium, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document from the removable medium on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be stored on the removable medium. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-implemented method for deleting electronic documents, the computer-implemented method comprising:
in response to detecting an operation to attach an electronic document to an email, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be attached to the email, causing the time data to be included with the email, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be included with the email. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium for deleting electronic documents, the computer-readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
in response to detecting an operation to attach an electronic document to an email, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be attached to the email, causing the time data to be included with the email, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be included with the email. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. An apparatus for deleting electronic documents, the apparatus configured to:
in response to detecting an operation to attach an electronic document to an email, determining, from a plurality of electronic document classifications, an electronic document classification that has one or more corresponding electronic document types, at least one of which is the same type as the electronic document, determining a time at which one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied based upon document retention policy data that specifies one or more deletion criteria for the electronic document classification, wherein the one or more deletion criteria include a time duration that specifies how long electronic documents should be maintained that are both associated with the electronic document classification and that are the same type as the one or more corresponding electronic document types, generating time data that indicates the time at which the one or more deletion criteria will be satisfied, causing the electronic document to be attached to the email, causing the time data to be included with the email, generating a set of one or more instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause the deletion of the electronic document from the removable medium on or after the time indicated by the time data, and causing the set of one or more instructions to be included with the email. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
Specification