Protecting what matters commercially.
WHAT COUNTS
Contracts and negotiations Financial records Unreleased plans and products Supplier terms Anything under a confidentiality agreement
THE RISK
Material sent to a service leaves your control, regardless of the provider's intentions.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Whether an agreement prohibits disclosure to third parties Whether the provider's terms are adequate Whether the task genuinely requires the confidential detail
THE PRACTICAL APPROACH
Describe the situation generically rather than pasting the document.
"A supplier contract with a termination clause requiring six months notice" rather than the agreement.
FOR ANYTHING GENUINELY SENSITIVE
Consider a service with appropriate terms, or a locally run model where nothing leaves your systems.
WHAT TO TELL STAFF
Explicitly. Most inadvertent disclosure happens because nobody said.
FOR CONTRACTS WITH CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES
Check whether sending material to a processor is permitted.
Some agreements require notification or prohibit it.
