The Vanishing Act: Navigating the Governance Challenges of Ephemeral Messaging

Everywhere you turn, there are articles about “SignalGate.” Putting aside the politics for a moment (yes, a challenge), what issues does a commercial end-to-end encryption platform like Signal raise for companies and government agencies?

In today’s hyper-connected business world, communication happens lightning through various digital channels, and commercial “ephemeral messaging” platforms have gained significant traction. But what exactly is “ephemeral messaging,” and why should organizations be concerned about its use?

According to Merriam-Webster, ephemeral refers to “something that lasts for a very short time.” In digital communication, ephemeral messages disappear automatically after being viewed or after a predetermined period. Platforms like Signal, Snapchat, Telegram, and even mainstream business tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack offer features that automatically delete messages after a specified time.

The Sedona Conference categorizes ephemeral messaging apps into three types:

Purely ephemeral messaging: Apps with deliberate, permanent, and automated deletion that cannot be altered
Quasi-ephemeral messaging: Apps that permit preservation in certain circumstances, allowing users to change deletion settings
Non-ephemeral messaging: Apps without built-in deletion features, where message content may remain on servers

The Rising Tide of Ephemeral Communications

The business adoption of ephemeral messaging has seen remarkable growth, with an estimated 35-40% annual increase between 2019-2023. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend as remote work became prevalent. Today, approximately 65-70% of large enterprises use some form of ephemeral messaging. Industry-specific adoption is particularly high in sensitive sectors:

Financial services: 85% of major institutions
Healthcare: 60% of organizations
Legal sector: 55% adoption rate

Key Risks and Challenges

Regulatory Non-Compliance. Many industries operate under strict recordkeeping requirements. Laws like Sarbanes-Oxley, FINRA rules, HIPAA, and the Federal Records Act mandate specific retention periods for business communications. Automatic deletion can directly violate these requirements.

Legal Discovery Nightmares. When litigation arises, organizations must produce relevant communications during discovery. Ephemeral messaging can create situations where potentially relevant evidence has disappeared. Courts may impose “adverse inference” sanctions if they believe someone deliberately destroyed evidence.

Information Governance Gaps. Organizations struggle to implement consistent retention policies across all communication channels. The automatic deletion of messages creates gaps in institutional knowledge and decision-making context.

Transparency and Accountability Issues. For government agencies with public records obligations, ephemeral messaging is particularly problematic. It can undermine citizen access to information and create the perception of deliberate avoidance of oversight. At the federal level, these applications can be inconsistent with obligations in the Federal Records and Presidential Records Acts.

Security vs. Compliance Tension. While auto-deletion reduces security risks from potential data breaches, it simultaneously creates compliance risks from insufficient recordkeeping—a classic case of competing priorities.

The Shadow IT Problem: Personal Devices and Unauthorized Apps

Ephemeral messaging has significantly accelerated the use of personal devices for business communications, often without proper oversight or authorization. It creates what security professionals call a “shadow IT” problem — technology use outside the organization’s visibility and control.

The appeal of ephemeral messaging often drives employees to install apps like Signal, WhatsApp, or Telegram on their personal phones when these platforms aren’t officially supported or are restricted on corporate devices. This behavior is motivated by several factors:

Convenience: Employees seek the simplicity and familiarity of consumer messaging apps
Privacy concerns: Staff may prefer the perceived confidentiality of auto-deleting messages
Work-life integration: The blurring of professional and personal boundaries, especially in remote work environments
Regulatory avoidance: In some cases, employees deliberately seek to keep communications “off the record.”

When employees use personal devices for business communications:

Corporate data escapes the organization’s security perimeter
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies may be violated
Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions can be circumvented
Data loss prevention (DLP) controls are rendered ineffective
Message archiving and monitoring becomes impossible

This shadow IT issue compounds the already significant challenges of managing ephemeral communications, as organizations must now contend not only with the self-destructing nature of messages but also with the fact that many of these communications are happening on unmanaged personal devices.

Best Practices for Managing Ephemeral Messaging

Regulators are increasingly attentive to ephemeral messaging use. The SEC and DOJ have aggressively discouraged companies from utilizing encrypted and ephemeral messaging platforms without proper controls. Ironically, due to cybersecurity concerns, other government agencies like the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have recommended secure communications, including end-to-end encryption and apps with “disappearing messages” features.

Organizations can navigate these challenges by implementing proactive strategies:

Develop Clear Classification Policies. Information from ephemeral messaging platforms must be classified as a business record when it:

Contains content that would qualify as a business record in any other format
Serves as evidence of business transactions or decisions
Documents compliance with legal requirements
Contains unique business information not documented elsewhere
Falls under retention requirements in laws or regulations

Implement Technical Solutions. Consider technologies that capture and preserve required records even when using ephemeral messaging platforms. Various third-party solutions can archive communications while still allowing for security benefits. As technology and regulations evolve rapidly, organizations should regularly review and update their policies to ensure continued compliance.

Train Employees Thoroughly. Ensure staff understand their preservation obligations, how to correctly classify and retain essential communications, and the legal and regulatory risks of improper ephemeral messaging use.

Finding Balance

The challenge for modern organizations isn’t whether to allow ephemeral messaging but how to govern it effectively. Organizations can balance the security benefits of ephemeral messaging with their regulatory obligations by understanding the risks, implementing clear policies, utilizing appropriate technical solutions, and providing thorough training. In this delicate balancing act, being proactive rather than reactive will be the key to avoiding the potentially significant legal and compliance consequences of mismanaged ephemeral communications.

The Rising Tide of Ephemeral Communications

Key Risks and Challenges

The Shadow IT Problem: Personal Devices and Unauthorized Apps

Best Practices for Managing Ephemeral Messaging

Finding Balance

Further Reading & Resources