With the rise of ephemeral messaging, self-erasing communications have gone from spy movie lore to everyday consumer technology (minus, of course, the tiny denotations). But while embraced by privacy advocates, such technology isn't always readily welcomed from those tasked with compliance efforts and investigations.

Time-limited messaging, after all, can stifle the best laid e-discovery plans or the most thoroughly conducted investigation. And they're not going away anytime soon. Once only the focus of a handful of messaging apps, ephemeral messages are now being offered by widely used services like Gmail and Facebook.

From a corporate perspective, it can seem that ephemeral messaging is a headache best left outside office doors. But the opposite is happening, with the likes of Uber and Waymo allowing such self-erasing communication in-house. And there are even signs government officials and attorneys are potentially using the technology as well, given that such tools hindered special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.