Glossary — Access grant
What is an access grant to archives?
Named and contractual designation of a person authorised to request access to the archives deposited with an archive trustee. It specifies the scope (viewing, restitution, voting), the conditions (signature, identity verification, collegial vote), and the duration. It is revocable, traceable and enforceable.
What it is
The access grant is the cornerstone of access control to archives with an archive trustee. It is named: the contract lists people by their civil identity, never by role (to avoid self-appointed successors). It is scoped: a precise scope distinguishes simple viewing, restitution requests, addition of a new beneficiary, triggering a vote on end-of-period arbitration.
Every action under a grant is recorded in an access register: date, person, action, supporting evidence. The register is open to all grantees, discouraging opportunistic use and providing evidence for any later arbitration.
Why it matters
Without a named framework, access to a defunct company's archives is settled case by case, at the cost of a battle of legitimacies. Preventive granting prevents this: the roles are set at signing, aligned with what the shareholders actually want. It is also a protection tool for beneficiaries: they know that no third party, not even Archivum, can grant access that has not been nominatively allocated.
How Archivum approaches it
At Archivum, the grant is managed by the contract and a consultable digital register. Modifying a grant (adding, removing, scope change) follows the agreed voting mechanism: it is itself collegial, never unilateral. Every access request is preceded by an identity verification with an official document, logged in the register.