36% of people in marketing departments pass on private information about their colleagues
Half (50 per cent) of those working in marketing departments in the UK admit to having shared confidential information on the company, research from information management company Iron Mountain has found.
The research, conducted with Opinion Matters, surveyed 5021 office workers from the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and France.
Marketing came second to HR, where 64 per cent admit sharing confidential information about the company, with 44 per cent revealing private information about colleagues, compared to 36 per cent in marketing.
However, it was discovered that only two per cent of those surveyed would turn to the marketing department first for confidential information about the business, with 38 per cent saying they would go to director-level and above.
Christian Toon, head of information risk at Iron Mountain Europe, said: “The study reveals a worrying correlation between employees with the greatest access to confidential information, and a willingness to share that information with colleagues.
“Companies need to realise that responsibility for information security should not be left to records managers and IT departments. Data protection is no longer a niche issue, every employee has a role to play. Information security is as much about embedding a culture of information responsibility in the workplace as it is about data protection and the effective management of sensitive information. It’s as much about recognising the data privacy rights of co-workers as it is about protecting customer information.
“Gossip and a genuine personal interest in our fellow workers are inevitable but companies would be well advised to develop and implement clear policies that inform employees on what information can and cannot be shared. What may seem like coffee chat in the office could soon be shared outside the business when employees clock off.”
The research was carried out in April 2013.