How To Remove Confidential Data Before Quitting Your Job

(Before we begin, we are not legally trained and hence, this article does not constitute legal advice. Please seek a lawyer if you need more clarification.)

Many of us deal with copious amounts of data every day. Some of it is open-sourced, and others are confidential.

Sometimes, it can be very tempting to take away confidential data as it does represent some monetary value to somebody out there. This temptation could be even more pronounced when you are leaving the company to join a direct competitor as this could give you that much needed edge to get a headstart on your career there.

If you are in such a situation, our advice for you is…DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

1. Why not?

a. It is morally wrong.

Removal of data that does not belong to you is basically theft, even though you might have spent hours and weeks collecting it, curating it and processing it. It belongs to your company and it should remain that way

b. The data removal can be traced.

Forensic computing is accurate enough to find out who took what data out on which day, at which time via which method, even if the theft occurred months ago.

There are specialists who have the knowledge and tools to uncover your activities, no matter how well you think you have hidden your tracks. It is a matter of time before you get caught.

c. Penalties are severe

Under the?Privacy and Data Protection Act?(PDPA), all user information is regarded as sacrosanct and should never be removed from the company premises. Breaches will not only result in fines for the company, but also severe outcomes including criminal proceedings against the perpetrator. It’s just simply not worth it.

What’s worse than PDPA, is if you are working in the banking sector where there is specific legislation in the form of the Banking Act. This expressly forbids any disclosure of information and legal prosecution is almost certainly guaranteed.

In 2005, some Relationship Managers at a bank left to join a competing private bank, bringing with them thumb-drives of client information and data. They were eventually tried in court and found guilty, putting their banking careers to an early end. More recently, a local bank employee was?jailed 12 weeks?for selling the personal information of 37 clients.

d. Long-term damage to reputation

Even if you weren’t caught, the long term damage to your professional reputation would be immeasurable if word were to leak out that you copied private information for private use.

In any event, this data expires quickly and after 6 months, would probably not be of any validity anymore, so why take the risk?

But what constitutes "'CONFIDENTIAL DATA"?

And What are some of the ways you think you can beat the IT Detectives?

Click this link to read the entire Article on our blog, The CareerAgility Lounge.