Government agencies turn to advanced tech to archive encrypted communications

The digital transformation sweeping through government has created a paradox: communication is faster and more diverse than ever. Yet, managing and preserving the resulting records for compliance and transparency has become exponentially more complex. The sheer volume — billions of records annually — combined with the velocity of communications and various formats presents formidable technical and legal challenges.

Traditional archiving methods, designed in an age when paper documents, PDF reports and email were the dominant forms of communication, are ill-suited to cope with today’s torrent of mobile text messages, video calls and encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp.

Lanika Mamac, general manager of public sector business at Smarsh, said in a recent StateScoop executive spotlight interview that agencies face significant hurdles in properly capturing, archiving and retrieving these new forms of communication.

“They not only have all of their mobile devices [with] SMS, they have the encrypted applications, which also are a complication, but then you also have… every other type of communication,” said Mamac. Retrieving specific records efficiently for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and other requirements from this disparate data pool remains a significant operational bottleneck for many agencies.

Meeting Evolving Government Needs

Evolving guidelines from NARA, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and White House executive orders require government technology leaders to deploy more robust, adaptable platforms, according to Mamac.

These systems are no longer just archives; they are critical infrastructure for ensuring transparency, meeting legal obligations, and enabling effective agency operations by preserving and protecting vital communications wherever they occur, Mamac said.

Smarsh, for example, handles “over 100 different types of communication, from email to chat to social media, to any mobile applications or SMS,” she said.

In cases where messages are encrypted between users using apps like Signal or WhatsApp, Smarsh uses a process Mamac likened to putting communications “on a bus. We’ll take all your messages, we’ll put them on a bus, and we’ll send them to any location,” agencies choose. “We can send a message to our archive, or we can send it to their archive. That way, you can retrieve that message when necessary.”

Mamac noted that Smarsh has “helped over 1000 agencies” with their records, communications capture and archival management. Among other benefits, agencies have reduced the time it takes to retrieve specific records from “days and hours to just minutes. So that they can get to the record they need quickly and be able to serve it up when they have a public records request.”

Learn how Smarsh helps government agencies capture, archive and manage official public records.

This video spotlight discussion was produced by Scoop News Group for StateScoop and underwritten by Smarsh.