Beginning Oct. 8, most chats within the Teams app will automatically be deleted after 60 days. This change will help bring Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s data retention efforts in line with best practices of other organizations.
The new practice will affect the following types of chats:
- 1:1 chats between two employees
- Group chats among multiple employees
- Chats associated with a meeting or event
Chats within a Teams channel (also known as Posts) will not be affected.
Any files shared within a Teams chat will not be deleted. Only the message content of the chat will be deleted after 60 days.
The applicable policy and standard operating procedure around communications have been updated and are available in PolicyTech:
- Electronic Messaging of Individually Identifiable Patient and Other VUMC Confidential, Private, and Restricted Data
- Approved Messaging and File Sharing Mechanisms (SOP)
If you have any questions reach out to vecpc@vumc.org.
