IRS sued over erased instant messages

A watchdog group sued the IRS on Monday, accusing the agency of failing to store instant messages as part of its official records, and demanding a federal judge step in and order the agency to comply with the Federal Records Act.

Conservative group Cause of Action had tried to use open records laws to get a peek at top IRS officials’ messages, but was told the agency only stored instant messages for a maximum of 14 days, then wiped them in order to clear up storage space under a deal the IRS struck with its labor union.

That, however, runs afoul of federal policy, which says computer instant messages, like text messages, should be treated the same as emails and stored for posterity if they detail substantive agency business.

“It appears that federal records are being deleted because the IRS, in a deal with its employee union, refuses to preserve certain types of electronic communications,” said Alfred J. Lechner Jr., president of the Cause of Action Institute.

Federal agencies have had trouble keeping up with technology, leaving many of them in violation of policies governing phone text messages and computer instant messages.