Cuomo Calls For New Policy After Criticism Of Email Purges

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for a new email retention policy for state leaders following criticism about his administration's practice of generally purging emails after 90 days.

The policy of automatically deleting official emails after only 90 days sparked concerns from government watchdogs and some lawmakers who said it was an affront to government accountability and transparency.

Cuomo's top spokeswoman said Thursday night that the governor would meet with lawmakers, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to create a single retention policy for state officials.

Cuomo's office said the retention policy dated back to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration, but Cuomo recently expanded it to cover most other state agencies. Cuomo instituted a similar purge policy in 2007 when he was attorney general.

The system is staying in place ahead of the meeting.

Schneiderman suspended the policy this week, saying he was committed to government openness.

Two bills have been introduced in Albany that would require a seven-year retention of state emails.

Cuomo's office said it's willing to meet with legislative leaders and others to engage in a conversation on policy.

Blair Horner of the New York Public Research Group said with limitless storage capabilities there's no excuse.

"This is at best a policy based on technology that doesn't exit anymore and at worst an effort just to sort of scrub the record," Horner said.

The governor's office insists anything deemed a government record is marked for preservation beyond 90 days, but Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York is skeptical, WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reported.

"Sometimes the most innocuous emails that you get that you think isn't going to be important at all, turns out six months or a year later to be relevant," Lerner said. "To expect each and every government employee to go through hundreds if not thousands of emails before the 90-day time period and mark which one should be saved I think is asking a lot of people."

The administration said corporations and other governments have long purged emails after 90 days, but an advocacy told the New York Times that it's like there's an electronic shredder that is always running.

The governor's email troubles come as Hillary Rodham Clinton faces questions over her handling of email correspondence during her tenure as secretary of state.

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