Sensitive Information For Protective Details
In the performance of protective services, information is as valuable as gold. Indeed, information is often even more valuable than gold. To help us avoid or deal with a threat, we want as much information as possible, because it help us avoid or deal with a threat.
Our desire for information can cause a conflict with the client, who often wants to share the minimum amount of information with us, even in high threat situations.
A good example is health records. In most circumstances, and with most clients, we are more concerned with the probability of a health crisis of some sort than we are with dealing with a physical confrontation. So we want our client’s health records. Our client often has no problem giving us major information (like his heart condition), but has little desire to give us his full medical history. These records are personal, and clients want to keep them that way unless it is absolutely necessary.
One compromise that works well is to seal the records in an envelope, and have the client sign the flap where it joins the envelope. It would be immediately obvious if the envelope has been opened, which gives the client reasonable assurance that personal information will remain personal until circumstances force us to open the envelope.
We prefer to have medical information in paper form – it is easier to hand the hospital or doctor a folder of medical records. But in other cases we deal with electronic information. When dealing with a flash drive, a micro drive, or any other small storage device, we will put them in a KeySure KEYController (http://www.keysure.net/ 1-518-828-5337 – see the June 2004 and April 2006 issues of ÆGIS). This allows us to seal the device in a box which can only be opened by physically breaking it. As with the envelope, it is immediately obvious whether the box has been opened. Most clients find this gives them an acceptable comfort level, allowing them to leave us with information that we might need.
Obviously, this approach is only with appropriate for information that we need after the fact, rather than information that we need to prevent some bad thing from happening.
