WHITE PAPER

State Sunshine Laws vs. Shadow IT

Closing the transparency gap between recordkeeping requirements and effective communication

State and local agencies must safeguard transparency and public trust by complying with records retention laws such as FOIA and state sunshine laws. But as employees adopt unsanctioned apps, devices, or platforms to get work done quickly, they can unintentionally create records outside official systems.

This “shadow IT” bypasses retention processes, opening compliance gaps, legal risks, and operational challenges that undermine government transparency.

This white paper explores:

• The evolving conflict between sunshine laws and the realities of shadow IT
• What agencies can do to enable communication efficiency while meeting their recordkeeping obligations
• How agencies can capture and preserve a growing variety of digital communications — from emails and texts to collaboration tools and social media