CompTIA CASP+ Practice Test

What should a company refer to when determining if it can provide four-year-old email data in response to a subpoena?

1. Legal department protocols

2. Email archiving procedures

3. Data retention policy

4. Privacy compliance documents

The correct answer is: Data retention policy

When determining whether a company can provide four-year-old email data in response to a subpoena, the data retention policy is the most relevant reference. A data retention policy outlines how long different types of data should be kept and when they can be deleted. It reflects the company's practices in compliance with legal obligations and industry regulations regarding data storage. This policy dictates the lifespan of the email data, specifying whether emails must be archived for a certain period, if they can be deleted after a set duration, and any exceptions that may apply. Compliance with a subpoena would require a clear understanding of these retention timelines to assess if the requested emails are still available. The other options may provide useful context. For instance, legal department protocols could guide how to handle subpoenas in general, while email archiving procedures relate to how emails are stored long-term. However, they wouldn't directly specify the legal timeframe for retaining email data as the data retention policy does. Privacy compliance documents might outline regulatory requirements for user data handling, but again, they do not specifically dictate retention periods for emails.