Versioning in Hyperlinked Files for eDiscovery

A blog post by Doug Austin in eDiscovery Today delves into the ongoing debate surrounding hyperlinked files for eDisovery. The article highlights posts by industry leaders Craig Ball and Rachi Messing around the issue of versioning in hyperlinked files, or “cloud attachments,” as Microsoft calls them. Austin notes the questions Ball poses about which version should be collected and searched for eDiscovery purposes: 

• The version that existed at the time the email was sent, 
• The version that was seen the first time they opened it,
• The version that exists the final time a recipient opened it, or
• The most recent version in existence.

He reframes Messing’s question, pondering whether differences between the reviewed and transmitted versions of cloud attachments justify withholding them from production and examining how a suite of features called Microsoft Purview handles the collection of cloud attachments. According to Microsoft, cloud attachments present challenges during the eDiscovery workflow because only the cloud attachment link and not the actual content in the shared document are returned in an eDiscovery search. Purview provides two solutions for collecting cloud attachments: 

• Collecting the live version of a document that is linked to in a cloud attachment or
• Collecting the version of the document at the time it was shared in a cloud attachment.

Ball highlights Purview’s user-friendly interface but also notes its limitations, particularly in terms of cost and accessibility.  The cloud collection feature is only available in the Premium “E5” version of Purview, which is expensive and therefore out of reach of many organizations. Ball also mentions potential limitations regarding how far back cloud attachment collection capability goes, especially for earlier legacy cases. 

Throughout his post, Ball emphasizes the importance of considering cloud attachments as legitimate attachments and not overlooking hyperlinked files for eDiscovery. He acknowledges the complexities involved but advocates for a practical approach, steering the discussion away from encompassing all hyperlinked content and focusing specifically on the issue of files linked from messages.