(Even before learning it was to a reporter!) Send the attachment in a follow-up email and, in the future, attach the document before you even begin writing your email. Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. And theyll be first with the story. Heres one: You work for the Census Bureau , which runs demographic surveys beyond the decennial Census, and came across [popular celebrity]s personal info, perhaps noting they live near you. OP if I was part of an interview for you, and you brought up this situation the way its phrased here, Im sorry to say it would be an immediate pass. In a professional context, close friendships and personal trust arent always as ironclad as they can be in personal relationships, particularly when it comes to security and confidentiality. Sharing HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL info. We all make stupid mistakes. ^^. If that got into the wrong hands it could even result in the end of civilization. Compare someone in law enforcement happening to find out the (secret) address and phone number of their friend-groups favorite celebrity, or finding the contact information for the cutie in the convertible, after their roommate catches the license plate numberand sharing. Honestly, I might be more likely to dismiss (or not hire) someone who, like the LW, does not seem to understand what exactly they did, what it could have caused than someone who, for personal ethical reasons, deliberatly leaked information, but understands that this is Not OK. Im in Chicago so I read about those firings with interest. There is no other guarantee, and yet people count on it. I had to learn the hard way, Im afraid, but I did learn. She should have just sat with that feeling and let it fuel her resolve to never share confidential info with an outside party again. Understandably, the agency had to let me go. Something to show that you didnt get caught you confessed. |. Still wondering why there was no second chance, though. Handling confidential information discreetly is a day to day part of working in communications, particularly for government entities (I say as someone in this field). How did you talk to your boss about the slack channel full of journalists? Were you able to correct the factual mistake in context, and what phrasing did you use? Employer found out and had grounds to fire you. Ive definitely been guilty of sharing exciting but not-yet-announced news with colleagues. So seriously, just dont tell anyone at all, fight the temptation, its an icy slope. This. This is incredibly condescending. A terse to non-existent IT policy or one that's full of unexplained jargon can work against a company. I used to work at a government agency and it was super hard to get fired so I can understand your consternation. Also, legally email addresses themselves dont typically count as 'personal information' as they are contact addresses and are treated in similar ways to phone numbers legally, as opposed to, say, identifying information like full name, DOB and home address all in one document. Im a fed and we have annual mandatory training out the wazoo on these kinds of rules, as well as frequent reminder emails from the ethics folks and/or the IGs office. 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. Things worked out this time, so I was right! I didnt know how to say it without seeming to condone the breach. The person is trying to make someone else feel bad about their own transgressions. From there they have 72 hours to resolve the situation. THIS ^^^ Whether it is age or just immaturity, there is clearly a major blind spot about the big picture and the potential impact resulting from this behavior. The problem here is that the OP misjudged the level of confidentially expected in the situation, and maybe by their office/profession in general. 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. I was an HR coordinator at a hospital and even though I did not deal with patient records or patients or anything remotely health care-y, I was required to take the annual training and accept compliance as a mandatory part of my employment. A large part of this is creating the interest that will drive The Thing, and the market/desirability of The Thing. I understand that you get that what you did was a very big deal as a single event, but I think you might need to spend some more time examining for yourself why you would describe this as a victimless crime. The fact that your friend didnt as far as you know tell anyone else about your bombshell doesnt meant that nothing happened. If you cant maintain confidentiality, you can work elsewhere. how else could you have met that need?) However, it is unlikely that the circumstances of your firing will be able to be overlooked by an employer who needs to trust your judgment with sensitive data, definitely for the foreseeable future, possibly for many years into your career. This former employee who was fired for social media posts will get his Man I am swamped with the publicly known project I am barely treading water. Thats why they told you the information was confidential. I think people beat themselves up enough internally without us having to do it for them most of the time. Passing it off as a mistake, or trying to portray ignorance (in the sense of saying "oh, I didn't realize it was wrong when I did it") is just going to make it sound like you don't bother understanding or following policies. I wish I lived in your country. Theres truly no compelling reason to break confidentiality here. Plenty of folks are friends in my business lobbyists, journalists, staffers you cant lose control of your impulse to share information. Regulation people have heard of is going to be changed/repealed and its a big deal If that puts it in perspective. And there are reasons the rule is dont leak, rather than dont leak (except to people youre *really sure* wont tell any one else (except people who they are really sure they wont tell anyone else (except people theyre absolutely positive wont tell anyone else))). While I was working there, I started dating an entertainment journalist who then covered some Marvel projects, and there were definitely things that happened at work which I did not share with him because of my NDA. rev2023.3.3.43278. In this case you will get a second chance it will just be with another employer. But I now realize that I had no business sharing my bad behavior with colleagues it put them into a completely untenable position. Even a private company would consider this a breach of trust, and could could consider firing. The same goes for ratting out. Which means have to vet things like your friend is a journalist, but doesnt cover your area? 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. As others have noted, it probably isnt anything especially exciting. 2) Multiple people is relevant, but its easy to misunderstand 3rd hand stories. Any tax or benefit records, any survey or census records if I access them without good reason its a firing offence. Same here! Yes, this was a fireable offence, but Im less interested in the nuances of violating confidentiality than in the bigger picture question I have done something where I really screwed up how do I move on? (Someone above mentioned someone bringing a gun to work (Dwight? Are you being GDPR compliant in your marketing? Separately, when you share, you have to still be oblique enough to not get yourself in trouble. Say I have a friend working on a presidential campaign, and she tells me theres a bunch of debate about the candidates strategy, I have to decide whether to mention that to my colleague who covers the candidate. As I said below, that may be why you werent given a second chance. I felt as defensive and upset as you. Best of luck, and believe us all when we tell you that if you sound at all dismissive of the seriousness of this, prospective employers will (rightfully) worry that you may have a similar lapse in judgement again. 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. Your coworker was not at all in the wrong here, OP. He was employed elsewhere within a few weeks. If you are still defensive or dismissive about this, it will come through in an interview. FOIA and open records requests are really big deals. She got paid to pose as Roeders* mistress, once. Perhaps the email was intended for a client in which case the clients data is at risk and the sender has inadvertently committed a data leak. Whether it's done to work from home, to print . That is exactly what could have happened to her government agency with the info that she leaked in the first place. I understand your irritation with your former coworker. (Most companies that use these kinds of scanners dont let employees know. I arrived in 69. 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. That has an impact on real estate values and could make a government employee excited. Good luck! Later when I moved on, it became my absolute best interview topic when asked about a mistake and how I handled it. As a sidenote: *Even if* you think it *wasnt* a big deal, when you get hauled into the boss office and told it. I imagine theres a section in the manual and training (possibly annually) about the great responsibility they bear around confidentiality and how people will try to scam them into breaching security, yet OP does not appreciate the weight of this. Clearly yall do not understand handling confidential information. Contact the recipient Get in touch with the recipient as soon as you notice the mistake and ask them to delete the email without reading or sharing it. Plus you might be doing them a massive favour when it comes to catching a data breach early. Why is there a voltage on my HDMI and coaxial cables?