Wilson asks about preferred communication platforms and Signal's status
Wilson asks whether there is a preferred internal communication platform; Smith-Cruz says the 2025 policy does not distinguish internal from external instant messaging, DORIS provides guidance on platforms but Signal is not written into any policy, and social media policy was last updated in 2021.
I'll say a little bit more about it since we're asking continually.
And I think, oh, Williams left.
I was going to quote him, but I won't quote him now.
To say that though we do not typically create specific guidance related to formats, the policy on instant messaging was created and generated in consultation with the law department and the office of the chief counsel.
And so we don't limit any authority to any use of specific platforms.
We just provide guidance.
And, of course, city agencies may be the ones to provide stricter policies related to specific.
specific platforms because of the training that we provide with them, provide to them and the guidance we provide to them.
So nothing in the current policy prohibits the use of signal messaging.
And we sort of set it as a floor.
And not the ceiling.
So we say this is the bare minimum of what you need to know, and then agencies may take it upon themselves to provide additional guidance, and that's how we would anticipate their communication around what they should or should not be using for specific conversations.
Regarding internal communications in agencies, is there a specific preference in terms of what communication platforms are used?
i.e.
Specific apps or messaging platforms?
Thank you for the question.
Under the current 2025 instant messaging policy, there's no difference between internal and external for instant messaging.
But as it relates to platforms as a whole, we do provide guidance on which platforms are best used for specific types of business.
Is Signal one of those?
We do not have signal.
Thank you for the question.
We don't have signal written actually in any policy, maybe because the policies were in 2025.
So, or that the latest update was in 2025.
Our social media policy was updated in 2021.
I don't know if signal was around then.
So mostly I would say that we do a lot of work to keep up to date with current practice.
And we acknowledge that the work of digital archiving has to move with how technology is shifting over time.
And we are doing lots of work to get to that.