Metadata Preservation and Non-Quantum Indexing

When information is provided for legal or regulatory purposes, the onus is on the providing organization to adopt a legally defensible process that does not alter or damage the data in any way. If the validity of the information is challenged, it is necessary to prove that the information is accurately represented by providing a detailed audit trail of the process from initial collection through to production. The audit trail must clearly establish the "chain of custody" of the information, showing each step of the process and detailing every operation that was performed. It is critically important that the contents of the file, message or document are not tampered with or modified in any way. It is equally important that the metadata relating to the information also remains unchanged. A given piece of corporate information may have several hundred different fields of metadata associated with it from different sources:

• Application metadata, such as author or subject fields
• Operating system metadata, such as last accessed and last modified timestamps
• Lifecycle management metadata, such as classifications and retention periods
• Case-specific metadata, such as legal holds, responsive tags and bates numbers
• Audit trail metadata, such as collection timestamps, reviewer name and access history

Not every field of metadata is legally significant, but some fields are vitally important. For example, if the last modified timestamp has been changed, it is impossible to state definitively what the contents of the information were when the user last accessed it. Ironically, it is precisely this critically important metadata that is compromised by many of the indexing technologies on the market, rendering their output legally indefensible.

How does Autonomy ZANTAZ Resolve the Challenge of Metadata Preservation?

A unique feature of Autonomy's IDOL is the Non-Quantum Indexing capability, which enables information to be indexed from live systems while preserving the complete integrity of the information itself and the metadata. This feature is an intrinsic part of the Autonomy software and it does not require any expensive or time-consuming hardware modification. The risk-mitigation benefits of Non-Quantum Indexing are also inherent in the full spectrum of Autonomy ZANTAZ proactive Information Risk Management products, as they are built on the IDOL platform. This unique ability enables Autonomy's investigative customers to rely confidently upon the solution to respond to any legal or regulatory demands for information that they may encounter in the course of doing business.