Implementing the right strategy for Slack eDiscovery process is crucial for many organizations. Slack has quickly emerged as one of the most popular tools for companies looking for intuitive ways to unify teams, particularly in the age of hybrid work.

Not only does it offer access to a convenient platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing, but Slack works seamlessly with existing tools (like Salesforce), and includes a range of powerful AI-enhanced features that can boost workplace productivity.

Of course, as the volumes of data shared through Slack, particularly for sales, customer service, and marketing teams, continue to grow, managing eDiscovery can be complicated. The good news? Slack gives organizations various ways to enhance their eDiscovery strategy.

Here’s everything you need to know about managing eDiscovery in Slack.

Slack eDiscovery: The Challenge of Managing Slack Data

Slack offers companies an intuitive, connected digital environment where teams can share knowledge, collaborate in real-time, and even keep track of crucial tasks, with tools like Slack Lists. It’s one of the most flexible collaboration platforms out there, integrating with more than 2,000 apps, to help businesses unify their data, and streamline everyday processes.

However, the flexibility of Slack can also present significant problems to companies already struggling with eDiscovery, governance, and compliance in the digital world.

Companies using Slack to enhance collaboration often end up with huge volumes of dynamic data, in various forms, from recorded calls, to text, images, and more. This means identifying, processing, and exporting data for eDiscovery can often be time-consuming and complex.

To preserve compliance, and also leverage the most value from their data, companies need to leverage a combination of built-in features, and third-party solutions.

Slack’s Built-in Features for Compliance and eDiscovery

First, Slack already offers various features that can support a company’s compliance, data management, and eDiscovery strategies. There are built-in AI capabilities that make it easier to search for data and sort through content with a focus on specific topics and keywords.

From a security perspective, Slack allows companies to assign specific roles and permissions to different staff members. For instance, Slack owners can transfer data, download content, delete workspaces, or set data retention policies. Guests, on the other hand, typically have limited access to data, records, and channels.

Here are some quick best practice tips for leveraging built-in Slack eDiscovery features:

1.      Choose the Right Slack Plan

Slack also offers specific eDiscovery and data governance features on more advanced plans. For instance, the Enterprise Grid version of Slack supports custom retention policies for all messages and files, data exporting, and integrations with offline backup, eDiscovery, and DLP providers. It also offers access to Enterprise Mobility Management integrations and an audit logs API.

The Business+ Slack plan, on the other hand, offers corporate exporting for all messages and custom retention policies, while the Pro plan only enables access to custom retention policies.

There’s also a specialized version of Slack available for Government users (GovSlack), which enables compliance with various government security standards, like FedRAMP High and DoD IL 4. This plan also includes support for custom encryption keys, enterprise-grade admin dashboard management, and a directory of approved applications.

2.      Master Your Data Retention Policies

Slack offers customizable retention policy options on all paid plans, so it’s worth taking full advantage of this feature, particularly if you’re recording conversations for compliance purposes. By default, Slack indefinitely retains all messages and files, including audio and video clips.

Notably, the free version of Slack deletes all data after a year, so it’s worth upgrading if you need to keep your data for longer.

On the paid versions of Slack, you can choose from a range of retention options, such as asking Slack to store everything, keep all messages without tracking revisions, or enable custom policies. You can also determine which of your workspace members should be able to modify retention settings.

Notably, the retention policies on Slack can apply to all of your conversations, as well as the files you share through Slack, such as documents, uploaded videos, and information from third-party apps. Head to your admin portal in Slack to implement your own retention policies.

3.      Remember Legal Holds and Exports

As mentioned above, most Slack plans allow you to export various forms of data, which can be crucial for eDiscovery teams and auditing purposes. However, some plans (including the free plan) limit the amount of data you can export.

If you need to adhere to strict regulatory requirements for data retention and exporting, upgrading to the Enterprise Grid version of Slack is a good idea. As a compliance admin in this plan, you can set up legal holds to preserve communications and files via an API.

This guide from Slack offers some insights into how you can set legal holds for various types of content on Slack, including canvases, lists, and message-based conversations.

Slack eDiscovery: Your Options for Data Collection

On a broad level, there are two primary ways to collect the data you need from Slack for your eDiscovery processes. The first option is to simply request a corporate or standard export from Slack.

A standard export will include all of the content recorded on public channels in a workspace, including file links and messages. On the other hand, the corporate export will gather data from all public and private channels, as well as direct messages.

The second, more advanced option, is to use Slack’s dedicated Discovery API. The Discovery API allows organization owners on Enterprise Grid plans to use third-party applications to export and monitor files and messages across any workspace. With this feature, you can maintain full control over your exports, and access resources shared between workspaces.

How to Use the Slack eDiscovery API

The Slack Discovery API is only available to primary org owners, and org owners on Slack’s Enterprise Grid plan. It involves taking advantage of third-party approved apps for Slack that enable eDiscovery capabilities. Here’s how you can get started.

Step 1: Evaluate your Slack eDiscovery Needs

First, consider your Slack eDiscovery needs, and the data you’ll be sharing in Slack carefully. Remember, there are various forms of data you can share and collect in Slack. If you want to adhere to strict compliance standards, you’ll need to ensure you can search through, and export all kinds of data, from threads and emoji reactions, to video recordings and attachments.

After evaluating the type of data you’ll need to access and export, consider carefully whether you need an eDiscovery app, or a DLP (Data Loss Prevention) solution for Slack.

The Slack Discovery API supports both types of tools:

  • An eDiscovery app: Might be the ideal option if you need to collect data quickly for one-off criminal or civil cases, or you want to keep a comprehensive record of all your conversations in Slack. eDiscovery apps generally have read-only access to Slack file data and messages, and data collected by these tools can’t be quarantined, tagged, or removed within Slack.
  • A DLP app: May be a better option if you need a holistic solution for safeguarding and gathering sensitive information within Slack. These apps have read and write access within Slack, and allow authorized personnel to enforce predefined policies on messages and files shared within the platform.

Step 2: Choose your Third-Party Solution Provider

Once you’ve identified whether you need a Slack eDiscovery app, or a solution for DLP, you can browse through a range of approved vendors that support the Slack Discovery API. There are plenty of well-known companies to choose from, including Archive360, Theta Lake, Smarsh, Proofpoint, Onna, Bloomberg Vault, and Casepoint.

When choosing your solution, aside from ensuring it can connect directly to Slack’s Discovery API, there are a few other things you should consider. For instance, make sure your solution:

  • Offers control over data retention: The best Slack eDiscovery apps will give you full control over what kind of data you should collect and preserve, and your retention policies.
  • Integrates with a range of solutions: An eDiscovery app that integrates with not just Slack, but any other collaboration, communication, or data management tools will ensure you can maintain a holistic view into all of your business conversations.
  • Collects all forms of data: The right tool should be able to collect all different types of data from Slack, including information from video conferencing sessions, as well as images.
  • Holistically records data: Make sure your system can show edits and deletions in messages and transform JSON files into contextual records for your team.
  • Enables constant syncing: Your Slack eDiscovery tool should continuously sync and archive specific workspace data, automating the data collection process for your team.

Step 3: Implement your Slack eDiscovery Policies

Once you choose the right Slack eDiscovery application for your needs, you’ll need to learn how to fully utilize the Discovery API and implement the right policies for your company. Establishing company policies you can share with your entire team is usually a good idea.

Provide team members with insights into how information will be collected, stored, and managed by the app and ensure they’re familiar with your data retention and archiving policies. Educating employees on retention and data management strategies can help reduce the risk of data losses, improper platform behavior, and issues with compliance standards.

Implement automated strategies to ensure data is consistently collected and organized throughout your Slack channels and workspaces. Once you implement your new policies, make sure you review them regularly to ensure you adhere to compliance standards and security requirements.

Establish a schedule for reviewing your retention policies, paying close attention to the types of data shared and stored in Slack, appropriate retention periods, and data redaction methods for sensitive information. You may want to consider working with legal professionals for guidance on how to implement strategies that protect you from any compliance mishaps.

Managing Slack eDiscovery: Final Thoughts

Handling Slack eDiscovery can seem complex for today’s business leaders. After all, not only are there various different types of data you need to keep track of within Slack, but the more you integrate this platform with other tools, the more complex data management will become.

The good news is that Slack gives businesses the basic tools they need to manage data retention, eDiscovery and compliance (provided you’re on a paid plan). The Slack Discovery API also ensures you can leverage the latest cutting-edge technologies to help you process and manage your data, and stay ahead of compliance concerns.

Don’t underestimate the importance of the right Slack eDiscovery strategy. Make sure you have a plan in place for collecting, processing, and exporting all forms of communications data.



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