Ephemeral messaging applications delete content automatically after viewing or after a defined interval. Some enterprise platforms include disappearing message features alongside standard retention.
Business use creates tension with preservation obligations.
Alternative Names:
Disappearing Messages, Self-Destructing Messages
Why it Matters?
Courts have treated continued use of ephemeral messaging after a preservation duty attaches as evidence supporting an intent to deprive finding, which is the threshold for the most severe Rule 37(e) sanctions. The defensible position requires disabling ephemeral features for held custodians, which organizations frequently discover is not technically possible in the applications employees adopted independently.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Is using ephemeral messaging spoliation?
What is the defensible response?
