Microsoft Purview · eDiscovery
Custodian
Identify and manage custodians (data owners) for eDiscovery cases and track their data sources.
Scope: Custodian management within assigned eDiscovery cases
Permissions
- Custodian Management - Add and remove custodians from cases
- Data Sources - Identify custodian data sources (mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint)
- Custodian Holds - Place custodian communications on hold
- Acknowledgments - Track custodian acknowledgment of holds
- Indexing - Manage custodian index and reprocessing
Common use cases
- Tracking employees involved in litigation
- Managing data preservation for departing executives
- Organizing multi-custodian investigations
- Ensuring all relevant data sources are identified and preserved
Best practices
- Document justification for each custodian addition
- Verify all data sources for each custodian
- Send hold notifications promptly upon custodian addition
- Track custodian acknowledgments and follow up on non-responses
- Remove custodians when no longer relevant to reduce scope
Security considerations
- Custodian identification can reveal investigation subjects
- Hold notifications alert custodians to investigations
- Ensure proper communication with legal counsel before adding custodians
- Maintain confidentiality of custodian lists