Government agencies trust the Persistent Digital Archives and Library System (PeDALS) project for email data retention because it provides an automated, cost-effective framework to preserve large volumes of official records while meeting legal compliance and public transparency mandates.
Supported by the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), PeDALS addresses the profound security and compliance risks associated with unmanaged Outlook Personal Storage Table (.pst) files. 🔒 Solving the “PST Problem” in the Public Sector
In government spaces, users historically saved emails to local .pst files to bypass mailbox size limits. However, according to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), local .pst files do not meet official federal electronic records system standards because they lack central controls. Unmanaged .pst files pose severe issues that PeDALS directly mitigates:
Vulnerability to Loss: Local workstations are rarely backed up, meaning a hardware crash permanently destroys public records.
Security & Breaches: These files often live on local hard drives or removable media with weak native encryption, serving as prime targets for data leaks.
eDiscovery Blindspots: Hidden or “orphaned” files cannot be scanned by central IT, making it nearly impossible to comply with timely Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Right to Know requests. 🛠️ Core Capabilities of PeDALS
The PeDALS architecture changes how public records are ingested, managed, and safely retained over long horizons: PST files in federal agencies: 19% breach NARA regulations
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