Ive definitely been guilty of sharing exciting but not-yet-announced news with colleagues. How to answer question on moving to another country for job? It may help in your next position to transpose your thinking around these things a bit. The reason all this info is locked down tightly is so that they can control the message when it goes out. Then both OP and Coworker could be out of a job. As this was almost the entirety of your job they really couldnt keep you around. Oh my. She had no idea whether the friend would blab or not. 2. When they call for a reference, many employers will absolutely say if you were fired or laid off, and they will give detailed references. Now I just leave and cry and deal with the long-term consequences, like never moving up. Im excited about the project I started today or Something cool is happening at work would be fine to say in most situations. On the non-security side of things its fascinating to learn what the folks in the booth behind me are working on as Im quietly eating lunch, but its a serious security violation to discuss that kind of thing in public and it makes me cringe so hard when it happens. Everything from whats going to be on sale for Black Friday, to customer financial data. Agreed, that immediately got on my nerves. Thats a flat out easy to uncover lie. OP, specifically following up with Alisons advice above, you were fired because you showed your employer that your first reaction when learning about confidential information was to text (1) someone outside of your company who was not authorized to know that information and (2) someone who was a journalist, who by profession is at risk for leaking said confidential information EVEN IF you only know them as a friend and EVEN IF you promise pinky swear that they would never ever do that. Im glad that youve had time to think about it and can own the mistake, thats the most important part when we mess up. (They could be facing prison time.). Yet, the subordinates were not pleased! You are allowed to feel your feels about things, so long as you understand the reality. How to handle a hobby that makes income in US. Either way, if you commit an offense, its best to never go with its not that big of a deal anyways. Owning up to your mistakes at the right time is hard and the natural instinct to defend yourself is strong, but ultimately thats the best thing to do and garners respect. I had the same thoughtthat was very unwise. My mother got a reference-check call recently regarding someone shed managed and then fired. OP doesnt sound naive or too young, either. how did HR and OPs boss come to the conclusion that this information was spread through Slack (!) There are people who would refuse to acknowledge their error and go about their lives being bitter and blaming others. someone in another department saw the post, reached out to the person who made it and asked for information about the person they had heard it from. We call this a misdirected email and it's really, really easy to do. I dont think it matters now, but the Slack functionality for deleting messages from channels is pretty thorough. Thank you it was getting boring to read everyones outrage. +100 to this. If someone stole money from their workplace, or illegally harassed a coworker, and their colleague reported it would that person be a rat too? I replaced someone who had embezzled from the (small) company. But how do I explain this to show I learnt from my mistake and get a new job ? The coworker is not a rat or at fault here. I was wondering the same thing. For context I work with PHI covered under HIPAA for my job. I feel your pain. The government takes this stuff very very seriously. There are offenses, especially regarding releasing items, that would be serious enough to warrant immediate dismissal. Many Government Agencies have specific rules about reference checks. OP thinks she was super discreet in texting her friend. Like, firing on the spot if I access my own chart. Id instantly think that youd learned nothing, that no information we kept around you would be secure, and that anything we brought to you as far as behavior we needed you to change would suddenly be labeled as victimless and only because *truly irrelevant fact here* and unfair. I dont find it understandable that the OP expected a second chance for this, as someone who routinely deals with unclassified-but-FOUO, Confidential, and Secret information, except insofar as I can have sympathy for someone who perhaps didnt understand the gravity of their actions until consequences came down. Dang! She should have told her this is serious and Im going to have to report you. Then at least OP could have avoided the slack room full of journalists escalation. Yeah it totally sucks but now you at least have a chance to start fresh. How do I politely turn down the call for an interview by another employer? An employee who doesn't know about a policy important enough to fire someone over is just a ticking time bomb to an employer. Second, OP should never have told their friend, trusted or notthe problem is that OP should not ave disclosed it to anyone. So in regards to the tell an imaginary friend idea, I have also: openly disclosed highly confidential information to a) my cats and b) Jesus. Sorry this happened, OP! And there was no social media then, so 100+++ times that now. But despite how liberal weve gotten with sharing information, you really do have to be very strict about upholding confidentiality policies without making any exceptions. When dad got on the phone he explained to the person that he understood the situation and that he was going to have to report him because he gave my mother classified information. For many fed and state agencies, non-public records _must_ be released on a records request despite their non-public status unless they fit into a narrow set of explicit exemptions. Judgement errors tend to repeat themselves. confusedabouteverything Forumite. my boss read my Skype conversations, parental involvement with employees under 18, and more, my manager and coworker are secretly dating, boss will never give exceeds expectations because he has high standards, and more, update: I supervise a manager who falsified an employee write-up but I dont think she should be fired, stolen sandwiches, disgusting fridges, dish-washing drama: lets talk about office kitchen mayhem, interviewer scolded me for my outfit, job requires an oath of allegiance, and more, update: a DNA test revealed the CEO is my half brother and hes freaking out, my entry-level employee gave me a bunch of off-base criticism. Actually advertising is not going to be any better. Organisations can set up static rules (for example, you can send emails to business A but not business B), but these traditional methods are rigid and unreliable. I see it a lot and I wonder sometimes if its not sending the wrong message that its okay to break confidentiality because Friendship/Family Conquers All or something. I didnt agree with it myself, and knew that it wasnt really possible without raising a lot of money, something my organization just isnt that good at doing. With all the Data Protection rules, the E-privacy Regs, yes - and sorry, GDPR, my friend was in panic mode as they still didn't really understand their situation. For the other 2 questions, I would simply urge you to remove the phrase ratted out from your professional vocabulary. Sometimes they go so far as tell the bearer of the news that they now have to soothe them bc its their fault they feel bad. The actual problem is that OP shared confidential information. I thoughtlessly mentioned an embargoed announcement to a longtime friend in journalism before it was public. Alisons words are great to have prepared, and be super clear that you understand it was a problem, it was bad, and you take it very seriously. It doesnt, but we still shouldnt state assumptions like facts if theyre not supported by whats said in the letter and theres nothing wrong with Michaela pointing it out. Was the friend a journalist, or is there something else that would explain why she said that? The reply: Yes, the friend I texted happened to be a journalist but doesnt cover the area that I was working in. Id had excellent feedback up until then (if this is true), but I mistakenly shared some non-public information with a friend outside the agency, and they let me go as a result. I used to work for Marvel Studios. It all comes down to the nature of the data you are handling. Possible scripting adjustment: I mistakenly shared some non-public information with a friend outside the agency before it was officially released to the public. Equally, when we had a client who does the same job role as someone I know, I had to completely embargo that piece of information in my head, because I know that its a small field and my friend might recognise the detail I thought was vague enough to be anonymous. I dont recall that Lily Rowan ever had a job. I agree that the companys response was wrong the sexual harasser should have been fired but in the US, authority doesnt care. 5 Steps to Take After a Leakage of Confidential Information As a government employee she would have been trained on that rule and should have fully understood the ramifications of breaking it. For what its worth, one thing I noticed from your letter is language that sounds very social, discussing your trust in your friend, being ratted out by your mentor, not being given a second chance, and so on. assigning women extra work to help them, calling out when youre in the ER, and more. Its a big difference if you sit together at a bar, your friend mentions chocolate teapots and you say oh, this morning I was asked to design a llama-themed one before you realize that you really shouldnt have said that. Cmon, it was. A supervisor discovers that an employee has recently downloaded thousands of pages of confidential Company billing and financial information, and e-mailed it to her personal e-mail address. Before I hired you, Id want to know you were familiar with and in agreement with our ethical code, which talks a lot about protecting our clients. Long since past, now.). Right. While it is possible the line could be actively tapped/monitored by someone else, even if it was an unsecured line it would be reasonable to assume the home phone number on file for GSA's dad would lead to the dad. However, I will agree that, per OPs statement, the information appears to be unsolicited and doesnt seem like it would have been considered a records request (who knows, we dont have a lot of information and what we have has been proven to be distorted). Why are Suriname, Belize, and Guinea-Bissau classified as "Small Island Developing States"? Why is there a voltage on my HDMI and coaxial cables? A very long-term employee who did excellent work, as a joke, made up a fake news release that indicated we got the contract. Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust.. It helps you to catch context-driven mistakes such as adding the wrong recipient, attaching the wrong file, or forgetting to use Bcc instead of cc. OP has a right to be annoyed with Coworker, but Coworker was doing her job as well. It was spur of the moment and, as soon as I realized what Id done I circled back to her to clarify that that information was confidential. Upon further investigation, the supervisor discovers that the employee has asked other employees to also send Company documents to her personal e-mail address. Now were just nitpicking the OPs words here. How should I explain that I'm looking for a job because my employer may be shutting down? A first offense is still a breach in trust. What exactly do you want her to do so you feel satisfied that shes recognizing and acknowledging the seriousness of what happened? The same goes for ratting out. 2. Just wanted to point out that OP said they worked in the government, so while yours might be the public understanding of confidential, it wouldnt apply to anything their job considered confidential. But sending e-mails about a seemingly innocuous hobby cost one . Period. You undertook those actions while working for (1) A Large Governmental Organization, who is answerable to Congress and to the general public for the actions undertaken by their employees, in the (2) Communications department, which is a department where employees will specifically, systematically, regularly be exposed to confidential information that should be kept confidential until such time as it is explicitly said to be something that can be shared publically. Or that might not make a difference on how its interpreted. Instead, you gossiped about it and risked an announcement before things were ready. Take ownership and accountability of it, because for better or worse, all of us could have made OPs mistake at some point in our careers. Im sure he knew about things that he would have liked to talk about, and my dad can talk about anything to anyone at great length. Re-evaluating my original comment, Id still consider lying if attempts to explain the firing in interviews end up in disaster. In the real world, it happens often enough that I think its more realistic to talk about the practical ways to do it that keep you on the safe side of the boundaries. He was very good about keeping track of his boundaries, and we got very used to finding ways of being politely interested in how his work was going for him without putting pressure on him about the details. "Even if it were, transmitting some personal data by email does not of itself breach data protection laws in any jurisdiction" Actually in the UK the Data Protection Act would apply as it is being transmitted outside of the company without the express authorisation from the data subject. Excitedly texting confidential, FOUO information to a friend who happens to be a journalist, unconscious of the optics and real potential harm? Because a) LW broke confidentiality. Its always easier, at least to me, to close your mouth than open it. I dont want to beat up on the LW, but I do think they fundamentally need to understand that the loss of trust made it impossible for the agency to give you a second chance in this position. As someone who practices public relations, calling this victimless gives me a lot of anxiety. You did a thing that caused this outcome. So no matter what, she cant be the person that you reach out to in any kind of way to share that kind of information. On the weekend, I was sending a personal email to a friend. Also to prevent someone who might be a bit dangerous, from hurting you. I sent confidential documents to someone by accident via email I need the file completely removed - Gmail Community Gmail Help Sign in Help Center Community New to integrated Gmail Gmail Stay on. Journalists seek out and report information thats their job. I have worked and volunteered at government-related organizations before. Employer found out and had grounds to fire you. Wrong is wrong- regardless of scale of the offense, and LW has no one to blame but themselves. So, thats to say that I *completely* get the idea that at some point, you get to a point where you just really really need to share. Let me be clear she did not leak it. Our actions and our thoughts can definitely be wrong, but calling someones feelingswhich they have little to no control overwrong (or, dead wrong with double asterisks), only contributes to shame and self-loathing. I wanted to add to the part about putting your friend in a bad position: shes a journalist its a competitive industry and being first with the story matters a lot. Yes. They looked at themselves as an organization and realized that the damage was irrevocable. Or at least, feeling like one should have been possible. The latter looks more like something that could repeat under similar circumstances. The coworker could have totally done the right thing and the LW would still have a right to be annoyed and hurt by the action. If you talk about sensitive stuff in public you best be sure youre actually anonymizing what you have to say. We need to be careful about using terms like victimless mistake. It pretty much doesnt matter what field you are in the higher up you go the more likely you are to be privy to information that you MUST NOT share no matter how excited you may be. But, its important for an employer to know that you understand the need for reporting and would report things yourself if needed. I think thats misunderstanding the severity of why what OP did was not ok. Theres any number of non-confidential matters that are embargoed prior to their public announcement. I have also had to recommend the firing of a personal friend. If I was that coworker, Id have to think shed continue to go around blabbing about this, and there is No Way I could just sit on it until *I* got called on the carpet. OP, please do not take this comment string seriously, because internalizing these statements will severely harm your ability to address your error effectively. Both your friend AND your co-worker. This is 100% on you. Once its out, you have no control over it. No, not if its classified or embargoed. If youd like to learn more about human layer security and email data loss prevention (DLP), you can explore our content hub for more information. If the policy says people who tell information to non authorized individuals must be fired they could have been fired for not firing you. And if the coworker didnt tell and it somehow got out that she knew another job lost. But the other person she spoke to, her coworker, told others, and somehow that message (of who and how she leaked it) got twisted into something much worse. In this case you will get a second chance it will just be with another employer. how do I tell employers I was fired for a video I put on YouTube? In my experience, it was highly effective. Its the Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust. that did it for me (especially after all the ways the OP dodged responsibility in the original letter). Completely unrelated to the topic at hand, love the username! Please keep us updated and let us know how things work out for you. I actually think your big mistake was telling your coworker, not telling a trusted friend. Like I said, very strange but its worked for me. Going forward definitely own this mistake and explain that you are freaking Fort Knox going now to new employers, knowing now the seriousness of such a transgression. In some cases, there can even be criminal charges for knowingly releasing certain information. The person you wronged is not obligated to give you that second chance with them. Im more curious about what KIND of exciting information it was. But doing so would likely out the department LW worked for, and probably LW herself. Im in public relations/global communications. LW, you are too focused on using some incorrect details to mitigate the main point: you were a trusted professional who broke one of the most basic policies in the world of communications. That said, is there any reason you need to answer these questions?
How Many Bodies Have Been Found In Belanglo Forest,
Rockingham County Nc Jail Mugshots,
Articles C
