| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: How do you dispose of hardcopies of confidential documents? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Reed James
Chile
Local time: 18:29
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
| What about reference? | Oct 4, 2006 |
Madeleine Algrain wrote:
I don't keep it in my PC, I delete all trace of the document, I just keep the statistics.
That seems unfair because old documents are a priceless reference for the translator -- be they confidential or not.
Reed
| | | | Heike Kurtz 
Germany
Local time: 22:29
English to German
+ ...
| Cannot remember the last time I received an order on paper | Oct 4, 2006 |
getting paper documents for translation is a special event to me, since it happens once every few years...
However, if I would get any very confidential paper, I could easily use it to light a fire in the livingroom stove
Since I only own a cheap shredder that shreds paper into strips of 5 mm, they would probably be easy to reconstruct.
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I agree with the others who say they try to use both sides of the paper before chucking it - I try to limit the amount I print out but that last check really needs to be done on paper. You can spot the minor errors so much easier.
It then goes in the recycling box for collection.
I have never really considered confidentiality but I imagine that the local bin men don't read much Japanese anyway and even if they did read the stuff it would have no interest to them at all!
... See more I agree with the others who say they try to use both sides of the paper before chucking it - I try to limit the amount I print out but that last check really needs to be done on paper. You can spot the minor errors so much easier.
It then goes in the recycling box for collection.
I have never really considered confidentiality but I imagine that the local bin men don't read much Japanese anyway and even if they did read the stuff it would have no interest to them at all!
Am I being naive? ▲ Collapse
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 16:29
German to English
| Professional disposal | Oct 4, 2006 |
All paper we have (printouts mainly) that involves highly confidential material, as well as/including material that falls under insider trading, banking secrecy and data protection laws, is disposed of by a registered confidential document disposal company that can guarantee a paper trail from the locked bin in our office to final disposal. This is partly to satisfy statutory regulations, partly to comply with client contracts.
Trivial stuff just gets shredded (cross-cut only).
... See more All paper we have (printouts mainly) that involves highly confidential material, as well as/including material that falls under insider trading, banking secrecy and data protection laws, is disposed of by a registered confidential document disposal company that can guarantee a paper trail from the locked bin in our office to final disposal. This is partly to satisfy statutory regulations, partly to comply with client contracts.
Trivial stuff just gets shredded (cross-cut only).
I'm somewhat astonished at the cavalier attitude of some translators about the issue of confidentiality.... ▲ Collapse
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sad
Local time: 23:29
English to Russian
+ ...
| This should be beyond of translators competence | Oct 4, 2006 |
If a company (individual) gives a conf (classified) job to a translator, so the company shoud be conscious of the text nature.
But really it might be not always. So my opinion is: if any need, the translator must require a hardcopy from the Company and upon accomplishment the translator must return back all the materials given.
At need the Company might sign with the translator an agreement of confidency.
| | | | mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 18:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Another fire-raiser... | Oct 4, 2006 |
All confidential paper gets burned - not just source and target text print-outs but also most bank statements, old credit cards, ID papers, etc.
I've also been known to burn the occasional diskette and CD-ROM.
I wonder how many of those who claim to be hyper-cautious about their clients' materals end up giving their old PC away, maybe to an educatiional charity or some school-kid, without bothering to deal with data remaining on the hard-disk ...
MediaMatri... See more All confidential paper gets burned - not just source and target text print-outs but also most bank statements, old credit cards, ID papers, etc.
I've also been known to burn the occasional diskette and CD-ROM.
I wonder how many of those who claim to be hyper-cautious about their clients' materals end up giving their old PC away, maybe to an educatiional charity or some school-kid, without bothering to deal with data remaining on the hard-disk ...
MediaMatrix ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mariam Osmann
Egypt
Local time: 23:29
Member (2007)
English to Arabic
+ ...
| Reuse, Shred & Burn | Oct 4, 2006 |
I reuse papers (blank side), then shred them.
The papers that I've translated till now is not that confidential.
About burning, during my work, i did it once with draft document of an abstract of Islamic doctorat study [as in our thoughts, It is the only way that guarantee that these papers are not treated unproperly]
Any way I don't prefer hardcopies that are not scannable as word document, coz sooner or later they have to be typed to the screen for the TM
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 22:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
I first recycle anything printed for making lists, notes etc, but all paper, for reasons of confidentiality, eventually gets shredded and burned in the backyard.
As for the stuff on my computer, I take precautions when I go away for longish periods, and leave my computer hard drive at a friend's house.
I am conscious of confidentiality issues, but unless a customer specifically requests it, I don't take extreme measures.
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| Give them back to the client | Oct 4, 2006 |
Most of the confidential or sensitive documents I get must be official (certified) translations, which have a special format. So, I glue the original document to the final printout of the trsnslation, stamp and sign all pages. This way I my translation cannot be modified.
In other cases, I try to return the originals to the client or keep them for a long period.
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 16:29
German to English
| Hard disks get professionally trashed | Oct 4, 2006 |
mediamatrix wrote:
I wonder how many of those who claim to be hyper-cautious about their clients' materals end up giving their old PC away, maybe to an educatiional charity or some school-kid, without bothering to deal with data remaining on the hard-disk ...
Also a good point. All our old hard disks get professionally trashed, same applies to things like Zip disks. 3.5" floppies are easy: remove the inner (plastic) data medium and shred.
[Edited at 2006-10-04 22:59]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 14:29
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | The reason why I suggested this poll | Oct 5, 2006 |
Some of my clients are sending lots of sensitive material - immigration papers, adoption papers, court decisions, background checks, passports, email correspondence between companies, medical, contracts, marketing material regarding product launches and such.
I always make printouts for various reasons:
- most of those pieces are scans, often crooked and are literally a pain in the neck when trying to read them on the screen.
- For reference I keep hard-copies attached ... See more Some of my clients are sending lots of sensitive material - immigration papers, adoption papers, court decisions, background checks, passports, email correspondence between companies, medical, contracts, marketing material regarding product launches and such.
I always make printouts for various reasons:
- most of those pieces are scans, often crooked and are literally a pain in the neck when trying to read them on the screen.
- For reference I keep hard-copies attached to my invoices until they are paid. Then they get shredded.
- I am writing quite a lot of videos in (bulky) German, so I have to read the translation aloud while the video is running on the screen to make sure that the speaker won't end up sounding like Mickey Mouse on speed while doing his voice-over.
Back to data safety:
I never received any materials as hard-copies either, I have to retrieve them from the client's FTP-site after logging in with my personal password and deliver the translation the same way.
However, any results of dumpster diving can be traced back to the translator. ▲ Collapse
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 16:29
German to English
| EU data protection rules | Oct 5, 2006 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
Some of my clients are sending lots of sensitive material - immigration papers, adoption papers, court decisions, background checks, passports, email correspondence between companies, medical, contracts, marketing material regarding product launches and such.
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- For reference I keep hard-copies attached to my invoices until they are paid. Then they get shredded.
Nicole,
You clearly take the confidentiality issue very seriously, unlike many other translators (to judge by some of the responses to your poll), so my comment is not directed at you personally.
Just a reminder that if you are translating personal material of the kind referred to by Nicole, and this material relates to a citizen of an EU country, you are automatically covered by the requirements of EU data protection legislation, irrespective of where you live. EU data protection legislation is much stiffer - and carries more severe penalties - than similar legislation in most other countries, so translators working on this sort of material would do well to familiarize themselves with their obligations under EU data protection laws.
The same principles apply to other areas as well, such as "price-sensitive information" related to companies listed in the EU (insider trading laws).
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