14-Exhibit C - HCTRA Data Records Policy.pdf

HARRIS COUNTY TOLL ROAD AUTHORITY For Official Use Only

HCTRA Data Retention Policy

Effective Date: February 25, 2009

Revision Date: June 10, 2013

Revision Number: 2

Policy Number: PL0055

Approved by:

W.1

Who's affected? All Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) employees, contractors, and temporary agency employees

Introduction This Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) Data Retention and Disposal Policy (the "Policy") has been adopted by HCTRA in order to set out the principles for retaining, reviewing and destroying data. This

Policy applies to all HCTRA records created or received in connection with any business transaction, including all handwritten or typed documents, microfiche, microfilm, computer disks, computer tapes,.

records (including e-mail), audio tapes, video tapes, data stored on computer hard drives or main frames, and all records in any other medium.

This policy must be read in conjunction with (and is subordinate to) the

Harris County Records Management Plan and the Texas State Library and

Archives Commission Records Retention Schedule pursuant to the Texas

Local Government Code. Any conflict should be resolved in favor of the

County's Records Management Plan and the State's Records Retention

Schedule.

This Policy and all supporting policies and procedures are established not only to facilitate compliance with the County's Records Management Plan and the State's Record Retention Schedule, but also to facilitate the informational needs of HCTRA as a business organization.

This Policy should be read in conjunction with other HCTRA policies that have as their objectives the protection and security of data.

Purpose This Policy ensures the satisfaction of legal obligations, regulatory requirements, and operational needs for records and their retention by establishing consistent and accountable recordkeeping practices throughout HCTRA.

This Policy ensures that records that have outlived their usefulness are promptly and properly discarded, which in turn reduces the financial and legal burden on HCTRA. Original data should be accessible in order to

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For Official Use Only

Page 2 of 8 HCTRA Data Retention Disposal Policy PL0055 protect HCTRA interests or those of its employees, customers and service providers. When the data is no longer needed, it should be disposed of in the proper manner as outlined in Records Disposal Procedure (PR0188)

Definitions

All “HCTRA Records” are “County Records” and “Official Records” as defined in the Harris County Records Management Plan. All references herein to “HCTRA Records” may be substituted with “County Records” and/or “Official Records.”

The items listed on the following pages are considered HCTRA Records regardless of physical form, characteristics, or whether public access is open or restricted under the laws of the State of Texas. In addition, HCTRA Records are considered to be those records that have been created or received by HCTRA or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law or in the transaction of public business. These HCTRA Records shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Harris County Records Management Plan and the Texas State Records Retention Schedule.

HCTRA Records do include:

(a) All original documents, papers, letters, books, and maps;

(b) photographs, sound and/or video recordings; and

(c) microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic media, or other means of recording data.

This definition of HCTRA Records does not include Transitory Records (sometimes referred to as Non-Records) which are:

(a) extra identical copies of documents created only for the convenience of reference, research, or office convenience;

(b) notes, journals, appointment books, diaries, day calendars, and similar documents an employee may use for personal convenience;

(c) reference notes and preliminary drafts compiled in the preparation of a record;

(d) blank forms;

(e) stocks of publications;

(f) unused pads of paper/office supplies;

(g) copies of memoranda sent to the Reading File (the record copy of the Reading File is archived in Central Files and held until its retention period has expired);

(h) convenience copies of purchase orders, requests for proposals, invoices (the record copies are sent to Central Files after processing and held until their retention periods have expired);

(i) correspondence, messages, and documents of a personal or professional nature (i.e. timesheets, comp/vacation requests, Daily Time Entries, pay stubs, etc.) that do not document public business and/or document official actions.

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Retention Policy Roles and Responsibilities

Records Liaison Officer

All County employees, contractors and agents

Per the Harris County Records Management Plan, the Department Head (HCTRA Director) shall designate a member(s) of his or her staff to serve as Records Liaison Officer for the implementation of the department’s data retention policies.

As of the latest revision of this Policy, the HCTRA Records Management department supervisor is the designated Records Liaison Officer for

HCTRA.

The HCTRA Records Liaison Officer(s) shall:

− Assist the Harris County Records Management Officer in the development and maintenance of the County Records Control Schedule;

− In cooperation with the Harris County Records Management Officer, coordinate and implement the policies and procedures of the Harris County Records Management Plan in their department;

and

− Disseminate information to department staff concerning the Policy.

The HCTRA Records Liaison Officer is the person responsible for determining the disposition of any record generated at HCTRA. This employee should be considered the main source for documentation disposition. Employees must ensure that the records they are responsible for are retained and archived in accordance with this Policy and procedures as stated in the Harris County Records Management Plan.

All county employees, contractors and agents have a responsibility to comply with records management policies and procedures and relevant laws and regulations. Specifically, all employees have a responsibility to:

1. Create, receive and manage records as part of their daily work according to established policies and procedures.

2. Evaluate paper and electronic records to determine their appropriate classification and storage requirements.

− Employees must ensure that all original HCTRA Records

(hardcopy, electronic or any other form) are sent to the HCTRA Records Management department for proper retention and/or disposition, and that transitory records are disposed of in accordance with the appropriate policies and procedures.

− Employees are not permitted to destroy any original record.

Only transitory records/convenience copies may be destroyed by employees.

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Section Managers and/or supervisors

Facilities Maintenance Section

Harris County Attorney

Administrative Services, Records Management

3. Classify and route original documents (hardcopy, electronic or any other form) according to established records management policies and procedures, with the following two exceptions:

− Destruction hold: an order to preserve and protect records during or in anticipation of litigation, investigation, inspection, or audit. The duty to preserve records subject to destruction hold supersedes the scheduled retention and destruction of records.

− Expunction order: a court order that requires the destruction of all case files, offense reports, investigations, and other records relating to a criminal case.

If HCTRA information or information entrusted to HCTRA is accidentally disclosed to an unauthorized party, the individual discovering the compromise must immediately notify his/her supervisor who will then notify the Assistant Director responsible for Records Management, the Records Liaison Officer and the Harris County Records Manager.

All missing, lost, or stolen records that contain information identified as confidential by the Confidentiality Policy (PL0048) must be immediately reported to the employee’s supervisor who will then notify the Assistant Director responsible for Records Management.

All section managers and/or supervisors will ensure the provisions of this policy are followed and communicated to all employees. Training must be conducted annually for section employees. Training should include awareness of this policy and related procedures, and an explanation of the possibility of court-ordered exceptions to the Policy, as previously listed.

Employees should be made aware of the legal risks and issues associated with records and information disposal.

This group is responsible for training, monitoring and spot-checking the performance of janitorial and other facilities personnel assigned to waste disposal/removal duty to ensure the proper collection, transportation and transfer of shredded and non-shredded waste in accordance with this Policy and that of Harris County and the State of Texas.

It is the responsibility of the Harris County Attorney’s office to approve measures to suspend document disposal and shredding if required to preserve records for litigation, anticipated litigation, or to comply with any law.

Records Management staff will:

1. Archive or scan original hardcopy documents for retention purposes,

2. Secure original hard copy documents until transported for

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Human Resources shredding by Harris County,

3. Follow appropriate retention schedules,

4. Coordinate transportation of shred-ready documents (via internal mail service/courier) to the Harris County Records Manager,

5. Carry out other duties to implement data retention and disposal requirements.

This department will be responsible for recording updates to this Policy in coordination with the Records Liaison Officer.

Original document storage

For business purposes, HCTRA retains original documents of various types/formats. Original paper (“hardcopy”) documents are stored by the HCTRA Records Management department either in their original paper (“hardcopy”) form, and/or scanned for digital storage, depending on the record category.

− Physical storage of “hardcopy” documents: Documents that are maintained in a physical state must be securely stored.

− Digital storage of scanned documents:

o Upon receipt, the Records Management department will scan the following document types:

1. Original contracts

2. Commissioners Court letters and corresponding backup materials

3. EZ TAG new accounts

4. EZ TAG account updates

5. EZ TAG disputes

6. Various Accounts Payable (A/P) documents o The scanned digital copies will be stored on a server that is routinely backed up. See the Records Disposal Procedure (PR0188) for more details.

− Storage of original electronic documents:

o It is the responsibility of the employee who creates an original document in an electronic-only format (for example, an Excel Spreadsheet or Access Database) which meets the requirements of an official HCTRA Record to ensure the file is sent to the Records Management department for proper retention/archival.

o Such electronic files may be provided to the Records Management department using a variety of electronic media transmittal options, including but not limited to e-mail, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and flash memory (USB devices).

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Retention The length of time that each type of record must be retained is set forth in the Texas State Records Retention Schedules. The HCTRA Records Liaison Officer is the authority on the current schedules and should be consulted for all retention and disposition questions.

It is imperative that all original records be forwarded to the HCTRA Records Management department for proper disposition upon the expiration of the record’s designated retention periods.

Selective or inconsistent application of the data retention Policy is prohibited. It is vital that employees comply with the appropriate retention periods.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) disposal requirements

PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) requirements note specific methods in which credit card related documents and media must be destroyed in order to completely safeguard credit card data.

Original documents with Credit Card numbers (as with all original documents) should be sent to the Records Management department. The Records Management department is responsible for the destruction of ALL original records, including documents containing credit card numbers.

− Per the Cardholder Media Handling Policy (PL0054), all employees handling records/documents containing cardholder data must mask credit card numbers to the last 4 digits upon completion of processing such forms.

− Employees may not shred ANY original document, including documents that have credit card numbers.

Electronic media containing credit card information:

− Because computer hard drives may contain confidential information that is still readable even when the files have been erased or when the hard drive has been reformatted, the administration of the media disposal program shall be under the Assistant Director, IT or designee thereof.

The Records Liaison Officer is to coordinate with the IT department quarterly to review and document the security and tracking of all stored records containing cardholder data, the disposal thereof when appropriate, and the elimination of redundant records.

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Tolling transaction data retention schedule

Tolling transaction data will be retained for the current fiscal year plus the previous five (5) fiscal years (FY March 1st – February 28/9), in accordance with the Texas State Retention Schedule for Records Common to All Local Government, Section 2-1: Fiscal Administration and Reporting Records.

For example, during 2013, HCTRA will have FY 2008 through FY 2012 tolling transaction data on hand.

In order to address HCTRA’s business need related to tolling transaction data, the following definitions are provided for clarification purposes:

− Tour audit data (summary and detail): revenue earned by payment type (AVI, violation, non-revenue, cash) compared to cash collected from toll transactions that occurred during a toll collector’s tour.

− Toll transaction data (summary and detail): revenue earned and transaction counts by vehicle classification, payment type, tag number (if applicable), transaction and posting date, time, lane and plaza, and lane mode.

− Bank deposit detail: including but not limited to amount, deposit number, deposit and business date, location and transaction type.

− Paid/unpaid tolls data: payment detail for tolls paid subsequent to unpaid lane transaction, including but not limited to payment information, incident number, license plate, customer name, toll and fee amount.

− Lockbox detail: payment detail processed by Amegy Lockbox or HCTRA’s online system for violations and EZ TAG accounts, including but not limited to masked payment information, amount, and EZ TAG account number or invoice number.

− Violation/V-toll transaction data (summary and detail):

violation counts by payment type ($0 paid, AVI, partial payment) and V-tolls posted by date (transaction or posting), time, lane and plaza.

− Violation event data: data associated with violation events that either have no monetary value (due to violation transactions unable to be processed because of image problems, etc) or have been closed (due to invoice(s) having been paid).

− Lane equipment message detail: information received from hardware at toll lanes

It is important to note that all tolling transaction data outside of these retention periods will be deleted. This data will not be stored on any other storage medium. Once it is removed, it will not be available for restoration. The data will be permanently disposed of as prescribed by the media disposal program under the Assistant Director, IT or designee thereof.

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Electronic mail (e-mail)

The content and function of an e-mail message determines its retention period. E-mails generally fall into one of three common records categories, and should follow the appropriate retention schedule for that category:

− Administrative correspondence, − General correspondence, or − Transitory information.

Many e-mails have no retention period because they do not meet the definition of HCTRA Records contained in this Policy.

However, an e-mail can have attached to it other types of records and may need to be treated and retained according to the retention period that corresponds to its attachment. (For instance, an email that comments on the substance of the attachment or interprets a part of an attachment should have the same retention period as the attachment.)

E-mail should not be stored past the message’s useful life. Users who store e-mail messages on their local computer are responsible for deletion of e-mail messages that are one (1) year old or older.

Disposal of any e-mail that is considered to be a County Record is subject to the same documentation requirements as any other format or medium.

Reference

Harris County Records Management Plan as adopted by Harris County Commissioners Court (most current revision) Texas Local Government Records Act of 1989 (Chapters 201 to 205, Local Government Code) and provisions of Chapter 441, Government Code, relating to the administration of the Act Records Disposal Procedure (PR0188) Confidentiality Policy (PL0048) Cardholder Media Handling Policy (PL0054)

Replaces

Data Retention and Disposal Policy – February 25, 2009

Changes from previous policy

Significant re-draft to include deletion of several procedural items, which are redrafted in Records Disposal Procedure (PR0188). Included references to updated version of the Harris County Records Management Policy and Plan. Deleted various references to document destruction.

Added “Toll/payment transactional data” section referencing electronic toll data storage capacity and the need to limit data retention.