Emailing PDF files

Hi,

Since the MLS transaction and update reports are not saved we have been printing to PDF. We save these in a password protected folder on the clerk computer. I then email these updates to the Bishop through gmail. About 30% of the PDFs are not able to be opened by the Bishop. We have tried 3 different print to PDF programs and are currently using the paid version from Adobe. Any ideas on how we can fix this? We like having the electronic records to be able to go back and refer to. It also cuts back on the paper and ink we need to buy.

Thanks!

The first question is if "password protected" is sufficient security to be emailing potentially sensitive membership information. Note that password protection is not the same as encryption. It's usually not hard to find applications that "recover" "forgotten" passwords. In the case if PDF, I know of apps that will remove passwords.

As for the technical issue, I think you need to troubleshoot why the PDFs can't be opened. The problem may lie on the other end.

memclerk wrote:Since the MLS transaction and update reports are not saved we have been printing to PDF. We save these in a password protected folder on the clerk computer. I then email these updates to the Bishop through gmail. About 30% of the PDFs are not able to be opened by the Bishop. We have tried 3 different print to PDF programs and are currently using the paid version from Adobe. Any ideas on how we can fix this? We like having the electronic records to be able to go back and refer to. It also cuts back on the paper and ink we need to buy.

Before you send the files, are you opening them to see if there are any problems? If you can open them and the file is fine on your end then the problem is on the other end or the file is corrupted during transmisssion. I have never had any problem using CutePDF Writer, available at the MLS download site, to save print files from MLS.

Could you be more specific about what problems you encounter. Perhaps you may have an MLS printing problem.

I would recommend you not save the files on the hard drive but rather follow the procedures listed in the Security section of the Policies and Guidelines for Computers Used by Clerks for Church Record Keeping:

The MLS database is stored on the computer’s hard drive. Other confidential files should not be stored on the hard drive. They should be saved on external media and locked in storage when not in use.

I would also be concerned about sending files through e-mail that contain confidential information. There have been some lively discussions in other threads about this issue. I only point this out to save your unit leaders, especially the Bishop, some headaches should this become a problem.

Maybe someone could quickly update me. Are we supposed to snail mail everything when advising SLC of confidential legal action taken against a member?

We need to send a court order to SLC for annotation to the member's record, and could snail mail, but sure would be easier to just send the pdf of the court record to SLC and request annotation electronically. But seems this raises a host of red flags.

Snail mail only?

tortdog wrote:Maybe someone could quickly update me. Are we supposed to snail mail everything when advising SLC of confidential legal action taken against a member?

We need to send a court order to SLC for annotation to the member's record, and could snail mail, but sure would be easier to just send the pdf of the court record to SLC and request annotation electronically. But seems this raises a host of red flags.

Snail mail only?

There is no Church policy that requires snail mail for all such communications. After all, the Church definitely uses ldsmail.net (which is a Google Apps implementation of GMail) to send confidential information to stake presidents. I personally see no reason why information such as that you describe could not be sent using ldsmail.net, but that's just my opinion. In any case, the stake president should be aware of the relevant policies and then make his decision as to which communication methods properly balance security, privacy, speed, and convenience for a particular piece of information that needs to be sent to CHQ.

tortdog wrote:Maybe someone could quickly update me. Are we supposed to snail mail everything when advising SLC of confidential legal action taken against a member?

A better question is "is there a email address that accepts confidential matters?" If you don't have the address, then it can't be done. Unless there's specific instruction that says to use the general membership email address, I wouldn't use that.

Without a email address that's known to accept such information, the question is academic.

RussellHltn wrote:A better question is "is there a email address that accepts confidential matters?" If you don't have the address, then it can't be done. Unless there's specific instruction that says to use the general membership email address, I wouldn't use that.

Without a email address that's known to accept such information, the question is academic.

There does appear to be an email address that at least replies to questions about confidential matters. If you log in to lds.org/leader and choose any of the three links under "Confidential" in the Membership tab, you will find the phone number and email address in the hyperlinks at the bottom of the page.

mfmohlma wrote:There does appear to be an email address that at least replies to questions about confidential matters.

It appears then that an answer is an email away - for those who have access to the leader area.