What legal requirements must a digitization program meet before destroying the paper originals?

Destroying paper originals after scanning (“digitization” or “scan-and-toss”) is permissible only when your program can prove the digital copies are trustworthy, complete, and legally adequate substitutes. The exact rules depend on your jurisdiction, industry, and the record series involved, but the following principles apply almost universally.

Confirm You Are Allowed to Destroy

Before scanning, verify that no law, regulation, or contract requires retention of the original medium. Some records (certain notarized, sealed, or wet-signature documents, or items with evidentiary or intrinsic value) must be kept in original form. Tax, employment, and similar recordkeeping rules may also govern how long records must be available and in what form.

Authorize the Destruction Through Your Retention Schedule

Originals should be destroyed only under an approved records retention schedule, not ad hoc. The schedule should document that the digital copy satisfies the retention obligation and that the paper is no longer needed once imaging and quality control are complete. Federal agencies must follow agency schedules approved by the National Archives.

Capture Accurate, Complete, Readable Images

Establish a documented digitization process that ensures:

• Completeness — every page, attachment, and annotation is captured.
• Image quality — resolution, color, and legibility meet recognized standards (the FADGI guidelines are a common benchmark).
• Quality control — a verification step confirms each batch before originals are released for destruction.

Preserve Metadata, Integrity, and Authenticity

The digital record must remain trustworthy over its full retention period. Maintain metadata (date, source, custody), protect against alteration, and apply integrity controls and audit trails so the copy can be authenticated. ISO records-management standards describe these reliability, integrity, and usability requirements.

Document the Program

Keep written policies, procedures, standards, and destruction logs. If a digital copy is ever challenged in litigation or an audit, this documentation demonstrates that your conversion process was reliable and that destruction of the paper was authorized and routine rather than selective.

Address Legal Holds and Special Categories

Never destroy originals subject to a litigation hold, investigation, or audit. Give extra scrutiny to privacy-protected, classified, or specially regulated records before disposing of any source copy.

For more guidance, see the digitization and imaging topic hub.