ISO/TR 12037:1998

TECHNICAL ISOTTR
REPORT 12037
First edition
1998-l 2-l 5
Electronic imaging - Recommendations
for the expungement of information
recorded on write-once optical media
lmagerie klectronique - Recommendations pour I’klimina tion des
informations enregistrkes sur disque optique WORM
Reference number
ISOmR 12037: 1998(E)

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/TR 12037: 1998(E)
Contents
........................................................................................................................................................................
1 Scope 1
..................................................................................................................................................................
2 Reference 1
.............................................................................................................................................
3 Terms and definitions 1
.............................................................................................................................
4 File integrity recommendations 3
..........................................................................................................................................................................
5 Index 4
6 Copies . 4
Annex A (informative) Change notice . 5
Annex B (informative) Comments to the court administrator . 6
0 IS0 1998
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
International Organization for Standardization
Case postale 56 l CH-1211 Geneve 20 l Switzerland
Internet iso @ iso.ch
Printed in Switzerland
ii

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
0 IS0 ISO/TR 12037:1998(E)
Foreword
IS0 (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (IS0
member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through IS0 technical
committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has
the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in
liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. IS0 collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The main task of Technical Committees is to prepare International Standards, but in exceptional circumstances a
technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical Report of one of the following types:
hen the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an international s despite
- type 1, w rd,
repeated efforts;
- type 2, when the subject is still under technical development or where for any other reason there is the future
but not immediate possibility of an agreement on an international standard;
- type 3, when a technical committee has co llected data of a different kind from that which is normally published
as an internatio nal stand ard (“state of the a r-t”, for example).
Technical Reports of types 1 and 2 are subject to review within three years of publication, to decide whether they
can be transformed into International Standards. Technical Reports of type 3 do not necessarily have to be
reviewed until the data they provide are considered to be no longer valid or useful.
ISO/TR 12037, which is a Technical Report of type 3, was prepared by Technical Committee ISOTTC 171,
Document imaging applications, Subcommittee SC 3, General issues.
Annexes A and B are for information only.

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
0 IS0
ISO/rR 12037: 1998(E)
Introduction
This Technical Report describes procedures for court ordered expungement of information recorded on write-once
media including the following technologies: Write-Once Read Many (WORM), Magneto-Optical Recording (MO),
Compact Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), CD-ROM Recordable (CD-R) and optical tape. This report has been
prepared for public offices such as courts, clerks of the court, law enforcement, social services, probation and parole,
juvenile services, schools, archives, and vital records centres.
It is recognized that, unlike magnetic or magneto-optical storage media, write-once media is inherently difficult to alter.
This Technical Report has been prepared to provide guidelines to ensure that uniform procedures are being followed,
in order to minimize the possibility of having information recorded on write-once media rejected in a court of law. For
example, a legally-ordered expungement, or expungement during file maintenance, may jeopardize the admissibility of
the entire set of records as evidence in a court of law if the expungement is not documented and performed according
to proper procedures.
Organizations that are subjected to expungement rulings should work with the manufacturer and manufacturer’s
engineering staff or supplier to obtain a satisfactory method to eliminate expunged data. Write-once media system
users should address expungement prior to system implementation, in fact, as early as possible in the system design
phase. Write-once optical media system users should further require vendors to demonstrate their expungement
procedures and prepare a certification assuring that index data recovery and image recovery can not be performed
following expungement. In addition, certification and demonstration should also be required when implementing write-
once optical media system hardware or software upgrades.
Some write-once optical media systems have been implemented in such a way that makes expunging difficult or
impossible. Unless the information to be expunged can be rendered uninterpretible through hardware and/or software
processes, expungement can only take place by copying acceptable records (i.e., records that are not expunged) from
one disk to another, destroying the first disk that contains negated record(s), and ensuring that all appropriate index
entries have been updated to reflect the expungement. Update of Index entries must ensure that no side effects related
to unexpunged records occur. The issue of index update is critical because, according to the rules of an expungement,
once an expungement has occurred, then it must be impossible to discern that the expungement has occurred.
One method of expungement that can be used includes arranging a controlled software module that would permit
wiping out a record and any computer-based indices identifying the record. It is recommended that such a software
module provide a double overwrite of the selected records to lessen the possibility of the destroyed information being
reconstructed. Double overwrite procedures may vary between write-once media system manufacturers and suppliers
due to different implementation methods.
iv

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/TR 12037:1998(E)
TECHNICAL REPORT o Is0
Electronic imaging - Recommendations for the expungement of
information recorded on write-once optical media
1 Scope
This Technical Report applies to the removal of information recorded on write-once optical media systems when
expungement is ordered by the court or administrative authority. Expungement requires specific removal actions to
occur.
This report establishes procedures for both information removal and documentation of the actions taken during
removal. Following the recommendations contained in this Technical Report will ensure that the expungements are
performed consistently.
2 Reference
Recommendations for the management of electronic recording systems
ISOfTR 12654:1997, Electronic imaging -
for the recording of documents that may be required as evidence, on WORM optical disk.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this Technical Report the following definitions apply.
3.1
amendment
correction or revision
3.2
bit-map
method of representing images by assigning an i
...