Confidentiality In Consultancy

In a public relations consultancy, it is both the responsibility of the consultancy as well as its employees to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the organisation and its clients. Having signed a non-disclosure agreement during my first day as an intern, the importance of client and organisational confidentiality was made evident from day one.

Since commencing my placement I have been tasked with numerous activities including writing and editing clients’ blog content, creating databases from personal information provided by clients, and working on publicly unannounced events.

As I have made an agreement with the consultancy to maintain the information I come in contact with as private, similarly, the consultancy has made a commitment to its clients to maintain their companies and each client’s privacy. Sharing such documentation or information contained would therefore not only breach my confidentiality agreement with the consultancy, but that of the consultancy itself with their clients and their clients’ customers. To do so would be a serious breach that may not only tarnish the personal reputation of myself or the consultancy, but lead to legal action in the form of a breach of confidence if the breach was to the serious detriment of the company.

Due to the serious nature of confidentiality, it is important for all interns to always keep in mind – whether they are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement or not – that they must treat all the information they are privy to during their placement as confidential. Along with discussing the positive relationship between ethics and professionalism, Parsons lists confidentiality as one of 5 Pillars of Public Relations Ethics. “Respecting the privacy of others and keeping confidential information that is of a confidential nature is clearly germane to ethical decision-making in any public communication function.”[2] To breach confidentiality would therefore be unprofessional, and something all interns and public relations practitioners alike should always aim to avoid.

Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) has now provided its members with Intern Guidelines. Within this document, confidentiality is discussed in the form of companies providing their interns with confidentiality agreements.[3] Though primarily targeted at those providing the internship, it can be a useful tool for interns to get a clearer understanding of the expectations their internship organisation is likely to have of them in regards to confidentiality.

By helping interns understand the importance of confidentiality in the public relations industry, practitioners can feel comfortable trusting their interns to handle the information they come across during their placement accordingly, and interns can feel at ease knowing what is expected of them.

For more information on professionalism, please see my previous post From PR Practitioner To PR Professional.
For more information on ethics, please see my previous post Navigating The Ethical Minefield.

[1] Black, Smith. 2013. Practice of Public Relations. London: Routledge.

[2] Parsons, Patricia. J. 2008. Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice. London: Kogan.

[3] Public Relations Institute of Australia Intern Guidelines. 2013. Industry News. Public Relations Institute of Australia. Accessed September 22, http://www.pria.com.au/industrynews/pria-launches-intern-guidelines.

Eva Niedzwiedz
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