Last month the Utah Department of Corrections suspended a program where inmates were used for data-entry when it came to light that the inmates may have stolen confidential information. Last year there was a similar incident in Fresno, CA. Several years back, there were stories of inmates in state prisons gaining access to the private information of people who were customers of companies that had outsourced computer work to the prison system.
Now, there’s a story in the Financial Express of India about how Indian firms that handle business process outsourcing are starting to ramp up their background check processes because of “biased information, bad track record and poor quality of work by employees.”
With all of the outsourcing and business partnering going on in today’s increasingly flat world, security, and thus a background check, are getting more and more important. So what does that mean to you?
There’s simply no way you can check out everyone who may have access to your personal information. There’s no way you can make sure that every company you deal with is responsible about handling confidential information. But, you should be aware of the potential problems and do what you can.
If you outsource or share information with business partners about your customers, find out about their security measures. Find out if they do background checks and who they do background checks on. Find out how they handle information. If necessary, get written agreement on security and confidentiality issues.
Be watchful of your own, personal, information security, too. In today’s networked and wired world, you can check your bank and credit card information quickly, easily and often. Make it a habit. Check your credit report, too.
It’s a world where you can’t be too careful.