On a separate front, confidentiality laws stipulate that strict confidentiality should be maintained for certain kinds of data that come into the possession of a business.

It's easier to comply with these legal requirements with good document management software.

The different laws and regulations can be kept updated in the document storage area and referred to quickly whenever necessary. This makes compliance with the laws much easier. Document management software makes it easy to capture these documents and retrieve the needed document in minutes, if not seconds.

Document management software by itself won't protect confidential information. You have to take specific action in the form of developing policies and implementing them, using the software features where available.

To aid this, we take a brief look at typical confidentiality requirements.

The basic premise is that every individual has the right to privacy. Personally-identifiable information that comes into the possession of a business should be kept under tight security and used only for the purposes for which it was collected.

Medical conditions, educational levels, personal beliefs, financial position and sexual orientation are examples of personal information that an individual would not like to be freely distributed. Even other kinds of information should not be disclosed to third parties.

There are business secrets, such as product designs, marketing strategies and software codes that the business would want to keep confidential.

However, much of this confidential information needs to be disclosed to others in the course of business. The usual protection in such cases is to impose confidentiality obligations on the recipients. For example, employment contracts would invariably contain an obligation not to divulge business information to unauthorized persons.

Policies such as keeping the information secure and using only a secure means to transmit it applies to these kinds of information also.

First of all, identify which information is confidential and mark it as such. Develop and implement policies like those listed below:

Collect only the minimum amount of information

Collect certain kinds of information only with the free consent of the individual

Keep it under tight security with restricted access and secure transmission

Use the information strictly for the purposes for which it was collected (as clearly indicated to the individual when it was collected)

Keep it only as long as it is needed, and then destroy it

Impose confidentiality obligations on any recipients to whom it has to be disclosed

Train staff to handle information confidentially

Good document management software contains components to restrict access to information stored in the central computers. Different levels of permissions for access, modification and deletion are granted to authorized persons. Use of passwords and audit trails not only restrict access, but also keep track of who accessed the information.

Destruction of information after the required period of storage is also easier with a document management system. Documents can be flagged with expiration dates and periodical reviews of expired documents can be reviewed and removed systematically.

Speaking of document-retention periods, laws also impose obligations to keep certain records for specified periods. For example, business accounts, employee records, health and safety records, etc. need to be maintained for a specified numbers of years. Here again, a document management software can help you keep track.

Keeping documents beyond the periods they're needed is a waste of resources. In the case of confidential information, it might also be against the law.

There are two main kinds of confidential information. One consists of business secrets that you don't want to get into the hands of competitors. The other is personal information you collect, or that comes into your possession, in the course of business. The law imposes confidentiality obligations regarding the second kind of information.

Good document management software helps you protect your business interests or comply with the law by restricting access to confidential information.