In the spirit of the title, we’re not even sure we should share this with you. But as confidentiality is drummed into you, from business school to business meetings, then we think it’s no secret that keeping schtum it is a crucial part of everything we do. With this in mind, we need to do everything we can to protect our sensitive information; from encrypted documents to passwords for every programme we use, confidentiality should always be at the forefront of our minds. Whether you are a business owner or an employee, you have an obligation to keep sensitive information safe and secure. If you haven’t already got the message, here are 4 IDEAL reasons confidentiality is so crucial in business.
THE LAW
There are several laws in the United Kingdom that cover confidentiality in the workplace and the importance of keeping information safe. Sensitive information such as a client’s bank details and addresses are only shared to your company on the basis that the information will remain private and only those who need to see it will. There doesn’t even need to be a proper agreement in place, as this law will apply to any business. The other regulation that everyone who works in business needs to know about is The EU General Data Protection Regulation. Check out thorough and in depth information on the need-to-know subject at GDPR.
TRUST
If you have a breach of confidentiality, whether this be from an employee or from a cyber-attack, then clients are going to be less likely to trust your business. As such, they’ll be less willing to invest, and this type of lack of trust quickly spreads. In some cases, it’s impossible to reverse. People want their information kept safe, and so if they can find another business that provides the same as you can and hasn’t had a break in confidentiality, then they are more likely to choose them.
REPUTATION
If you want to maintain your reputation as a business, then you need to maintain confidentiality. As an employee, if you break this confidentiality through unintentionally leaving something open or emailing the wrong document to a client, then guilty parties will need to be held accountable; someone, sadly, will end up losing their job. Confidentiality is about as serious as it gets in business; don’t risk yours or your company’s reputation on being slack and careless. Keep things tight and tightlipped.
PREVENTING A BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY
Businesses need to do everything they can to prevent a breach of confidentiality. This means having the right security measures in place on your computer system to prevent hacking. It is also essential to hire the right employees and do background checks to ensure that an employee hasn’t breached confidentiality in another company; a surefire sign that a repeat slip up could occur.
