A new paper published late last month by the Sedona Conference argues that ephemeral messaging can can actually be quite useful to companies looking to stay on the right side of privacy compliance and data mitigation laws. After all, it's hard to lose or inadvertently retain information that is designed to self-destruct.

But companies may still be reticent to embrace the potential of ephemeral messaging tools for fear of enabling illicit activities by employees or running afoul of preservation requirements. To that end, the Sedona Conference released a "Commentary on Ephemeral Messaging" last month, which presented five guidelines around how companies, courts and regulators can address the opportunities and complications presented by those platforms.

Here are five things to know about ephemeral messaging according to Sedona.