Agency personnel were first told in December 2020 and then again on January 25, 2021 that “if they were going to back up their phones, they’d need to do it manually,” and they were given instructions for how to do this, a source told CNN. The migration began two days later. It’s not clear how many agents failed to back up their phones.
Osgood said that telling agents to back up their own phones “makes absolutely no sense” — particularly for a government agency engaged in the kind of work the Secret Service does and required to retain records. The agency is not only charged with protecting the president, vice president and others, it also investigates financial crimes and cybercrime.
“I’m pro-government, and [telling agents to backup their own phones] sounds strange,” Osgood says. “If that did happen, the IT manager that’s responsible for that should be censured. Something should happen to that person because that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard in my life.”
To adhere to rules that require federal agencies to retain government records, the Secret Service should have an automated collection system in place to backup things like text messages on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the agency had such a tool.
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