In today's digital landscape, the sheer volume of data being created is staggering. Every day, we generate an astonishing 328.77 million terabytes of data globally. To put this into perspective, that's equivalent to every person on Earth uploading about 12 full HD movies daily. In fact, 90% of all the world's data was generated in just the last two years. This data explosion presents significant challenges for organizations, making robust data governance more critical than ever.
During our recent webinar, "Compliance Unlocked Series: Google Vault - Getting Started" , Google Workspace expert Ernesto Rivas and Director of Operations Kevin Barona explored why organizations must govern their data and demonstrated how Google Vault is the essential tool for the job. The primary goals are to reduce risk, ensure compliance with regulations, enhance data security, and ultimately, build trust with clients by demonstrating responsible data management.
This article summarizes the key use cases and functionalities of Google Vault discussed in the session.
It's important to understand that Google Vault is an eDiscovery and data governance tool, not a backup service. While backup services create copies of data for recovery, Vault is designed to help you retain, hold, search, and export your organization's data from Google Workspace apps for compliance and legal purposes.
The platform's core features are organized into three main areas:
Imagine an HR manager receives a complaint and needs to discreetly investigate communications between specific employees without alerting them. Google Vault makes this process straightforward.
1. Create a Matter: The first step is to create a "Matter," which acts as a container for this specific investigation.
2. Perform a Search: Within the matter, you can build highly specific search queries for services like Gmail and Google Chat. You can target specific user accounts or entire Organizational Units (OUs).
3. Use Search Operators: Queries can be refined with terms and operators to find relevant conversations. For example, the HR manager can search for keywords like "meme," "gossip," or specific project names.
4. Audit Securely: An investigator can read the captured messages directly in the Vault interface. This action does not mark the message as "read" in the user's inbox. Crucially, Vault will show messages even if the user has deleted them, noting that they were deleted.
To comply with industry regulations like GDPR or HIPAA, organizations often need automated data management policies. Vault's retention rules offer a "set and forget" solution to manage the data lifecycle.
When faced with a lawsuit, a legal team must preserve all potentially relevant data to prevent spoliation. This scenario involves all of Vault's core features.
1. Place a Legal Hold: Before anything else, the legal team must create a hold. A hold preserves all data related to specific accounts or search terms, regardless of any retention rules.
2. Holds always override retention rules. This means that even if a policy is set to purge data after 30 days, a hold will prevent that data from being deleted.
3. Search and Audit: Once the hold is in place, the team can safely search for all relevant information, such as emails or Drive files containing a specific keyword like "Project Phoenix". Vault allows you to view files even if you don't have direct access to them in Google Drive.
4. Export for Review: After identifying the relevant data, you can export it. For Gmail, this can be done in common formats like PST or MBOX. For Drive files, you can export the files themselves along with metadata, which includes crucial information like file owners, version history, and a unique file ID to ensure you are looking at the correct document.
Google Vault is also built for collaboration. An admin or HR manager can create a matter and then share it with other authorized users, such as a legal counsel or another investigator, allowing them to access the same searches and exports.
To get the most out of Google Vault, remember these key best practices:
By leveraging the powerful features within Google Vault, your organization can effectively manage its data, ensure compliance, and be fully prepared for any eDiscovery needs.
