Politicians archive e-mails only sporadically
Problems seen for future historians
A large proportion of the electronic correspondence of Finland's leading politicians is not saved for coming generations at all.
For instance, the e-mails of government ministers is not archived systematically. For this reason, it might not be possible for future historians to study the backgrounds of controversial decisions.
Under present guidelines, government ministers are required to save documents that emerge in connection with the discharge of their duties. For instance, correspondence with other officials that is linked with ministers’ work should be archived.
Under rules set by the Prime Minister’s Office, official papers must be handed over when the term in government is over.
E-mails also include official correspondence, notes Pentti Vesanen, head of data security at the Prime Minister’s Office.
“If a message contains a policy statement or initiative, it should be archived.”
Nevertheless, not all messages are kept. Ministers determine independently which messages they want saved. This means that it may be difficult to research the backgrounds of controversial decisions in retrospect.
A round of calls to ministerial aides reveals that the preservation of e-mails is haphazard.
For instance, the only e-mails of the governments of former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen to have been preserved are the ones that were printed out.
It is even rarer for the SMS messages of decision-makers to be filed anywhere.
Informal correspondence is valuable material for historical researchers, says historian Pekka Lähteenkorva, head of the Urho Kekkonen Archive.
“As a historian, I wonder if people in the 2090s will be able to understand the Finland of President Tarja Halonen if only 10 per cent of official documents are preserved."
“It always depends on the personal enlightenment of politicians if they understand themselves that they are making history”, Lähteenkorva says.
For instance, the e-mails of government ministers is not archived systematically. For this reason, it might not be possible for future historians to study the backgrounds of controversial decisions.
Under present guidelines, government ministers are required to save documents that emerge in connection with the discharge of their duties. For instance, correspondence with other officials that is linked with ministers’ work should be archived.
Under rules set by the Prime Minister’s Office, official papers must be handed over when the term in government is over.
E-mails also include official correspondence, notes Pentti Vesanen, head of data security at the Prime Minister’s Office.
“If a message contains a policy statement or initiative, it should be archived.”
Nevertheless, not all messages are kept. Ministers determine independently which messages they want saved. This means that it may be difficult to research the backgrounds of controversial decisions in retrospect.
A round of calls to ministerial aides reveals that the preservation of e-mails is haphazard.
For instance, the only e-mails of the governments of former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen to have been preserved are the ones that were printed out.
It is even rarer for the SMS messages of decision-makers to be filed anywhere.
Informal correspondence is valuable material for historical researchers, says historian Pekka Lähteenkorva, head of the Urho Kekkonen Archive.
“As a historian, I wonder if people in the 2090s will be able to understand the Finland of President Tarja Halonen if only 10 per cent of official documents are preserved."
“It always depends on the personal enlightenment of politicians if they understand themselves that they are making history”, Lähteenkorva says.
Helsingin Sanomat