(1) If, under a State law, a person (
"keeper" ) is required to keep, for a particular period, information that was
the subject of an electronic communication, the requirement is taken to have
been met if the keeper keeps, or causes another person to keep, in electronic
form, the information for the period in the circumstances stated in subsection
(2) .
(2) The circumstances are that—
(a) at the commencement of the
keeping of the information, it was reasonable to expect the information would
be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and
(b)
having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the commencement of the
keeping of the information, the method of keeping the information in
electronic form provided a reliable way of maintaining the integrity of the
information contained in the electronic communication; and
(c) during the
period, the keeper also keeps, or causes the other person to keep, in
electronic form, such additional information obtained by the keeper as is
enough to enable the identification of the following—
(i) the origin of the
electronic communication;
(ii) the destination of the electronic
communication;
(iii) when the electronic communication was sent;
(iv) when
the electronic communication was received; and
(d) at the commencement of the
keeping of the additional information mentioned in paragraph (c) , it was
reasonable to expect the additional information would be readily accessible so
as to be useable for subsequent reference; and
(e) if a regulation requires
the information to be kept on a particular kind of data storage device—the
requirement has been met for the period.
(3) For subsection (2) (b) , the
integrity of information that was the subject of an electronic communication
is maintained only if the information has remained complete and unaltered,
apart from—
(a) the addition of any endorsement; or
(b) any immaterial
change;
arising in the normal course of communication, storage or display.
