Preventing Confidentiality Breaches

A confidentiality breach can happen in any business, and it is usually something that happens by accident. When information that is confidential is given to an unauthorised person or group, this is a breach of confidentiality, and it is very damaging for both your business and the other person or businesses that are involved.

In any business, confidentiality needs to be taken seriously. Personal and sensitive information must be protected, and this comes in many forms – from financial details and details regarding other companies that you work with, to private details of employees such as medical records.

Confidential information can also be something to do with the business itself, such as business plans and forecasts, and this all needs to be treated correctly in order to keep it safe and prevent it from getting into the hands of someone that it shouldn’t, whether intentionally or accidentally.

A business that has a breach in confidentiality can lose trust and be seen as unprofessional, and business relationships can really suffer when this happens, so this is another reason to ensure that the information that is private is kept that way. Some examples of ways that confidentiality can be breached include:

Theft of computers, laptops and tablets that contain sensitive and private documents.

Employees that share confidential information with unauthorised people outside of work

Emails containing confidential information being sent to the wrong person

Confidential paperwork being carelessly disposed of where it then becomes accessible to the public

Because it is clearly important to protect confidential information as a business, here are some of the things that you can do in order to improve your security and reduce the risk of a breach of confidentiality…

Use Secure Passwords and Encrypt Files – Making sure that your data stored on computers and other devices is safe is essential, especially as more offices go paperless. Using strong passwords that are changed regularly and encrypting files helps to reduce the risk of cyber crime and theft of data from computers.

Dispose of Confidential Waste Securely – Make sure that confidential waste, whether on a hard drive or in paper form, is disposed of correctly and destroyed by a professional like this confidential waste disposal Birmingham based company printwaste.co.uk/confidential-shredding/confidential-shredding-birmingham

Train Staff on Confidentiality Policies – Making staff aware of the importance of protecting confidential data, as well as knowing what is confidential is really important. Having clear policies and training staff regularly on them helps to prevent accidental data leaks.