A critical record is a document that, regardless of the storage media, must be protected from damage or destruction to ensure auditability and continuity of critical business functions and information flows. If a critical electronic record has an electronic signature, the critical record must be retained along with its electronic signature and any other associated records necessary to prove the authenticity of the signature (e.g. digital certificate of a digital signature). Records should be retained in accordance with the Record Retention, Data Security and Contingency Policy and with the Record Management Guidelines.