[Originally appeared 2000.]
We return to the questions raised in Word of Law No. 29, that began the series on collaboration. Three remain, of which two are:
What techniques can be used to assure the identity of the persons who have worked on a document? Does Word permit or support an audit trail of document revisions? How do third party tools help?
How does Word preserve evidence of the drafting process? What strategies can be used to avoid creating this information in the first place? When it is desired to include such information during drafting, how can it be cleaned out before distribution of a document?
The discussion about these issues has come to be entitled, “metadata.” For instance, Microsoft has posted the Knowledge Base article “WD97: How to Minimize Metadata in Microsoft Word Documents http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q223/7/90.ASP and Microsystems has posted a white paper entitled, “…Shares Well with Others…”. http://www.microsystems.com/Shares_Well.htm . We have referred to some of these issues in the preceding columns.
I am not happy with the word “metadata” as a title for this discussion. It sounds either too techy or too classical to help us understand the issue at hand. The key questions are:
What information does an electronic version of a Word document contain in addition to the text and graphics that we intend the reader to read and see?
Does the disclosure of that information have a potential for harm or embarrassment?
What steps can be taken to avoid the inclusion of the information, or to remove it on distribution of a file to others?
Answering these questions will also answer the questions listed in the first two paragraphs of this column.
Not all information contained in an electronic file other than the intended text creates a risk of adverse disclosure. Some of that information may be necessary to the proper formatting or intended automation of the contents of the document, at least during certain stages of a document’s life cycle. Some elements may be appropriate to share among Cooperators, but not with Adversaries. The distinctions between those groups were explored in issue 5.28.
The rest of this column and portions of the following column will examine the elements of a Word file that have a potential for unintended disclosure of information other than the document’s text.
We have grouped these elements into categories based on the type of exposed information.
“Deleted” Text.
These elements of a Word file may expose text that had been deleted during the drafting process.
Track Changes Text.
This is the deleted text remaining in a document when “Track Changes” is enabled.(Tools | Track Changes | Highlight Changes or the “TRK” button on the Status Bar).The Track Changes function has an option that records changes in the document as they are made, but does not show them on screen or in print.If not removed, a recipient of a document can restore access to the deleted text by re-enabling it for viewing or print.
As discussed in issue 5.35, the safest way to avoid unintentional disclosure of information is to avoid use of the Track Changes feature.
Versions.
This function enables Word to save prior versions of a document as part of the electronic file. (File|Versions).There is an option to automatically save a version every time the file is saved.A recipient can access any of the versions that have been saved.
As discussed in issue 5.40, this feature has a very high probability of unintentional disclosure, and should be avoided.
Fast Save.
This option, still part of Word from the time of much slower personal computers, hard drives and networks, causes only incremental changes to a file to be saved. (Tools|Options|Save|Allow fast saves).Deleted text can still exist in the electronic file when the function is enabled. This option should be disabled.
Comments and friends.
The second group of Word elements are used by some or many users to add commentary to the text of a document. It may be appropriate to share this information with Cooperators, especially within a legal practice or other organization, but not with Adversaries.
Hidden Text .
This is a Font attribute that causes the text so formatted not to print, unless print options have been specially set.
Users who have employed this technique for commentary or instructions should be redirected to use comments. There are legitimate reasons to use the hidden text property for formatting and or other control of Word, such as enabling heading styles to work fully for tables of contents, so mechanical stripping of hidden text from a document is not a recommended technique for metadata control.
Comments.
These are inserted special fields that can contain written or audio commentary.(Insert|Comment). They are highlighted on screen, and do not print unless print options have been specially set.
Comments are the appropriate tool to use for commentary or instruction among cooperators. They should be removed before distributing a document to Adversaries. Even among Cooperators, it may be desirable to remove some comments. Footnotes and Endnotes. Some users employ these for commentary during drafting. Again, they should be directed to use comments and leave footnotes and end notes for their purpose as text.
The next column will continue with a detailed look at document properties both visible and less visible that track information about drafting history and the identities of those who have edited documents or even portions of them. To begin to expose these elements, in the Save tab of Tools|Options, check the box for “Prompt for Document Properties.” A dialog will appear when a document is saved that lets the user control the content of some, but not all of these properties.
This 2000 article originally appeared in Office Watch.Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.