Records management built for the public sector
Digitize citizen services, FOIA requests, and public records with transparency, retention, and security at the core.
How it works in government
Applications and filings received through one channel
Routed between departments with a full trail
Archived to statutory retention schedules
Where FileEazy fits
Common government document challenges we solve.
Citizen services
Digitize applications and permits with online forms and tracked approvals.
FOIA & public records
Respond to records requests quickly with full-text search and redaction.
Case management
Route casework through configurable, accountable workflows.
What you get
Retention schedules
Record each file's retention period and review date; saved searches list records due for review, and scheduled rules send reminders.
Transparency
Complete audit trails support accountability and public reporting.
Accessibility
Secure, role-based access for departments and authorized partners.
Records management for government: a practical guide
Retention schedules
Public bodies keep records for periods set by law, regulation or an approved retention schedule: a few years for routine correspondence, decades or permanently for council minutes, land records and building permits. The practical problem is rarely the rule itself; it is knowing which schedule applies to which file, and when each one falls due.
In FileEazy, each record carries its classification, retention period and review date as fields, so the schedule travels with the record. Filters and saved searches list everything reaching the end of its retention period this year, by department or record type, and scheduled automation rules can remind the records officer to review them; the officer decides what happens next.
Audit trail
Accountability depends on being able to show what happened to a record. FileEazy logs every view, download, edit, approval, permission change and deletion with the user and the time, and keeps every earlier version of a document. Approval workflows record who approved each step and when, and e-signature requests keep their own audit trail of each signer's verification and signature.
Role-based access
Citizen records often include personal information that only certain staff should see. Permissions can be set by role and by branch, department, folder and individual file, so a welfare case file is visible to the welfare team and not to the whole organisation, while partner agencies and contractors see only what is shared with them. Shared links can require a password.
Documents can be stored in the cloud region you choose or on your own servers with the on-premise edition, which matters when policy requires records to stay in Japan or on government infrastructure.
Disposal and legal hold
Records should be destroyed only when their retention period has ended, the disposal is authorised, and no request, audit or litigation requires them to be kept. In FileEazy, disposal is a deliberate action by staff with the right permission, not an automatic deletion, and each deletion is recorded in the audit log. Deleted items can be recovered until they are permanently removed, which protects against mistakes.
There is no one-click legal hold switch. When records must be preserved for litigation or an information request, restrict edit and delete permissions on the affected folders and exclude them from disposal reviews; version history and the audit log keep the full record of what existed and who touched it.
Public records management in Japan (公文書管理)
The Public Records and Archives Management Act requires national administrative organs to organise documents into files, set a retention period and expiry date for each, and list them in a file management register. When the period ends, records of historical value are transferred to the National Archives and the rest may be destroyed only with the consent of the Prime Minister. Article 34 asks local governments to make efforts to manage their documents in line with the Act, and many prefectures and municipalities have adopted their own public records ordinances.
FileEazy supports this way of working: each file carries its classification, retention period, expiry date and the planned action at expiry (transfer or disposal), and a saved search can produce the register for a department. Electronic approval workflows replace paper circulation, with each approver and date on record.
Records retention practice in the United States
US federal agencies may destroy records only under a records schedule approved by the National Archives (NARA), either their own agency schedule or the General Records Schedules that cover common records such as finance and personnel files. State and local governments follow retention schedules issued by their state archives or records commission, and public records laws, along with the federal Freedom of Information Act, govern what must be released on request. A pending request, audit or lawsuit suspends disposal of the records involved.
The same fields and rules work here: record the schedule item and retention period on each file, find records due for disposal, keep records under request out of the review, and use full-text search and redaction to answer FOIA and public records requests faster.
Example: a city clerk's office
Imagine a city of about 80,000 residents. Building permits, council minutes and resident applications are spread across paper files, a shared drive and email, and answering a records request means searching all three. Retention dates live in a spreadsheet that only one person keeps up to date.
With FileEazy, the clerk's office scans its active files with OCR, files each one under its classification with a retention period, and moves resident applications to online forms with tracked approvals. Each department sees only its own records. Every month the records officer gets a reminder, opens a saved search of records that reached the end of their retention period, reviews them, and keeps anything under an open request. A records request that used to take days becomes a search, a redaction and an export, with the whole process in the audit log.
This is an illustrative scenario, not a specific customer.
Frequently asked questions
Does FileEazy dispose of records automatically when their retention period ends?
No. Saved searches list records whose retention period has ended, and scheduled rules can remind the records officer to review them. Disposal is then a deliberate action by authorised staff, and each deletion is recorded in the audit log.
Can FileEazy produce a file management register (行政文書ファイル管理簿)?
Yes. Record each file's classification, retention period, expiry date and planned action at expiry as fields, and a saved search lists them by department, ready to export.
Can documents be kept in Japan or on our own servers?
Yes. Documents can be stored in the cloud region you choose, such as Tokyo, or on your own servers with the on-premise edition.
How does FileEazy help with information disclosure and FOIA requests?
OCR makes scanned records searchable, full-text search finds every relevant document across departments, and redaction in the PDF viewer hides personal or exempt information before release. The audit log shows what was searched, viewed and released.
Is there a legal hold feature?
There is no one-click legal hold. Preserve records by restricting edit and delete permissions on the affected folders and excluding them from disposal reviews; version history and the audit log keep the full record.
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