Workplace confidentiality policies protect confidential information such as customer and employee records, and research and development data. Breaches can damage a company’s reputation and long-term plans. Employees can receive training on privacy laws and procedures to comply with them.
Workplace confidentiality is a framework of workplace policies and procedures designed to maintain the integrity of confidential or potentially compromising information handled in the workplace. For some types of information, there are laws about how the information should be handled, designed to maintain privacy for people who entrust companies with confidential information. For others, no specific law mandates information handling practices, but the workplace develops best practices on the basis that information should be protected.
Confidential information handled in a workplace includes items such as customer records, business planning and forecasting, employee records, and information gathered in the course of research and development. Workplace confidentiality requires that this information be identified and protected to prevent unauthorized access or release of the information, and includes everything from workplace internet use policies to non-disclosure agreements in employee contracts .
Breaches of privacy in the workplace can lead to a variety of problems. Customers tend not to work with companies they find untrustworthy, and consumers can specifically warn people to walk away from companies that have mishandled private information such as addresses, purchase documents, and credit card numbers. Companies can also suffer compromises in their long-term business plans if information about products under development or ideas a company is considering is released prematurely.
Many companies need to collect information as part of their job, from hospitals that maintain patient data to Internet service providers that log traffic for research purposes and to identify unauthorized activity. Customers acknowledge that this information needs to be collected and, in return, expect a degree of confidentiality. Developing policies such as keeping information in closed storage areas and limiting access to authorized or need-to-know individuals is important to keeping information confidential.
Workplaces also have employee records that include identifying employee information, immigration status records, payroll records, performance records, and so on. HR departments must also maintain workplace confidentiality to safeguard this information and prevent it from being used in inappropriate ways. Misuse of employee information could lead to a privacy violation lawsuit.
In workplaces where privacy laws dictate how information can be processed, stored, and managed, employees can take workplace privacy training to learn how to handle information appropriately. This training is used to familiarize employees with relevant laws and the procedures used in a particular company to comply with the law. Trained employees may also be involved in training new hires and developing employee policies, procedures and handbooks.
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