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An overview by Rob Robinson
Understanding Electronically Stored Information – The Elements of ESI (1)
What is Electronically Stored Information?
Electronically stored information, or ESI, is described by the EDRM as information stored electronically on enumerable types of media regardless of the original format in which it was created. (2)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 and 34, effective as of December 1, 2006, use the broad term “electronically stored information” to identify a distinct category of information that, along with “documents” and “tangible things,” is subject to discovery rights and obligations. (3)
What is Information?
From a technology perspective, information is defined as the summarization of data. Technically, data are raw facts and figures that are processed into information, such as summaries and totals. But since information can also be the raw data for the next job or person, the two terms cannot be precisely defined, and both are used interchangeably.
What Is Data?
- Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions.
- Computer Science. Numerical or other information represented in a form suitable for processing by a computer.
Data Scope (What is the scope of the data in question?)
- Entity Scope – Entities that may have had individuals involved in the creation, review, or response of data that may contain relevant information for the matter at hand.
- Custodian Scope – Individuals who may have been involved in the creation, review, or response of data that may contain relevant information for the matter at hand.
- Data Steward Scope – Individuals who have Information Technology management responsibilities for the entities and individuals determined to be related to the matter at hand or individuals who maintain access rights to the applications and equipment used by these entities and organizations.
- Geographical Scope – The geographic locales of the entities and individuals that may have been involved in the creation, review, and/or response of communications and/or documents relevant to the matter at hand as well as the locales of the equipment used to support creation, transmission, review, and storage of these communications and/or documents.
- Time Frame Scope – The period of time in which relevant information may have been created, reviewed, or responded to for the matter at hand.
- Volume Scope – The estimated volume of data that may contain relevant information for the matter at hand.