N.Y. State Technology Law § 305: Use of electronic records

§ 305. Use of electronic records. 1. In accordance with rules and

regulations promulgated by the electronic facilitator, government

entities are authorized and empowered to produce, receive, accept,

acquire, record, file, transmit, forward, and store information by use

of electronic means. If any such government entity uses electronic

records, it must also ensure that anyone who uses the services of such

government entity may obtain access to records as permitted by statute,

and receive copies of such records in paper form in accordance with fees

prescribed by statute. No person shall be required to submit or file any

record electronically to any government entity except as otherwise

provided by law. Government entities that obtain, store, or utilize

electronic records shall not refuse to accept hard copy, non-electronic

forms, reports, and other paper documents for submission or filing

except as otherwise provided by law.

2. A government entity shall have the authority to dispose of or

destroy a record in accordance with the arts and cultural affairs law,

regardless of format or media.

3. An electronic record shall have the same force and effect as those

records not produced by electronic means.

4. The director shall study how electronic documents and the

mechanisms and processes for obtaining access to and reading electronic

data can be created, maintained, exchanged, and preserved by the state

in a manner that encourages appropriate government control, access,

choice, interoperability, and vendor neutrality. The study shall

consider, but not be limited to, the policies of other states and

nations, management guidelines for state archives as they pertain to

electronic documents, public access, expected storage life of electronic

documents, costs of implementation, and savings. The director shall

solicit comments regarding the creation, maintenance, exchange, and

preservation of electronic documents by the state from stakeholders,

including but not limited to, the office of the state comptroller, the

office of the attorney general, the state archives, and the state

historian. The director shall also solicit comments from members of the

public. The director shall report findings and recommendations to the

governor, the speaker of the assembly, and the temporary president of

the senate on or before January fifteenth, two thousand eight.