The confidentiality was defined by the International organization of standardization (ISO) like “the fact of making sure that information is only accessible only to those whose access is authorized”, and is one of the angular stones of the Sécurité of information. The confidentiality is one of the reasons to be cryptosystèmes, made possible in practice by the techniques of the modern Cryptographie.

The confidentiality is also an ethical principle associated with several professions, in particular in the fields of medicine, the Droit, data processing, the religion, journalism, ethical etc In and in right, certain types of communication between a person and one of these professionals known as “are privileged”, and cannot be discussed with, or revealed with third parties. In certain jurisdictions where the law ensures such a confidentiality, sanctions are usually envisaged in the cases of infringement.

Journalistic confidentiality

The journalists often distinguish several degrees from confidentiality with the information sources:

  • recorded information can be quoted and allotted directly to the source. For example, “Mr Dupont, police superintendent, declared…” ;
  • protected information can be allotted to the position of a person. For example, “a police officer expressing himself under cover of anonymity declared…” ;
  • dissimulated information can be included in the article without being clearly allotted. For example, “a source in relation to the investigation declared…” or more simply, “one suspects that…”.

Legal confidentiality

The lawyers are often obliged by the law to keep confidential all the relative informations with the representation of their customer. The duty of confidentiality goes beyond the privileged relation between customer and lawyer, which protects only the communications between lawyer and his customer.

The privilege and the duty are used to encourage the customers to speak frankly about their cases. Thus, the lawyers will be able to ensure their duty by representing their customers with zeal. In the contrary case, the charge would be able to surprise lawyer at the time of a lawsuit with something in connection with its customer who would not have been brought to his attention, which would be likely to compromise their strategy of defense seriously. Same manner, a customer who would not have confidence could hide an interesting fact, by thinking that would accuse it (for example, a mobile), whereas a talented lawyer would be able to turn it to the advantage of his customer.

However, a majority of legislations comprise exceptions for the cases where the lawyer knows that the customer will kill or wound seriously somebody, or who uses the services of lawyer to perpetrate a crime or an infringement. In such situations, the lawyer must be able to inform the police force of it, although they must usually be confronted with their customers and try to convince them to conform to the law.

These exceptions generally do not apply to the crimes which already occurred, even in the extreme cases where the murderers confess the position of bodies missing to their lawyers whereas the police force is with their research. The Supreme court of the United States and several supreme courts of State reaffirmed the right of a lawyer to be keep silent in such situations. In the contrary case, it would be impossible for any criminal to obtain a dedicated defense.

The California is known to have one of the duties of confidentiality among strongest of the world. Its lawyers must protect the confidences from their customers to any danger with regard to them. Before an amendment in 2004, the Californian lawyers could not give up owe them even if they had the knowledge which them customer was going to make a murder.

The recent legislation with the the United Kingdom reduces the confidentiality which the lawyers and the accountants can assert at the expense of the State. The accountants for example, are obliged to communicate to the state any suspicion of countable fraud, and even the legitimate use of the tax niches if these niches are not already known tax authorities.

Confidentiality in mediation

The mediators are also held, in the majority of the cases of the exercise of their activities to the confidentiality. In France, the texts provide that them " rapport" of Médiation gives of another indication only if the Médiation made it possible or not the parts to find an agreement.

However, in Law the Labor, within the framework of the collective conflicts, the confidentiality seems less guaranteed, since the report/ratio of the Médiateur must present his observations and those of the parts. This report/ratio can be used, if necessary, in a procedure of Arbitrage or be made public by the Minister for Labor.

Medical confidentiality

The communications between a doctor and a patient within a professional medical framework are legally confidential in the majority of the countries. Exit of a rigorous ethical principle, this confidentiality, named Medical secret, however comprises legal limits which decrease the real range by it. In France, the medical elements relative to certain crimes or certain pathologies for example are not covered by the medical secret.

Data-processing confidentiality

In Data-processing, the confidentiality forms part, with the integrity and the availability, of the three great types of Computer security.

It is thus necessary, in the computing projects, and particularly today in the projects using technologies of the Web like the projects of engineering of knowledge, of Content management…, to make sure that such rules are complied with, according to the Droit of data processing into force in each country.

Confidentiality of the correspondence

Within the framework of the Correspondence, a marked letter “confidential” cannot be revealed by its member elect without the express agreement of its sender, fault of exposing itself to continuations in damages.

The Email of the companies makes an improper use of this character of confidentiality by automatically adding a message of confidentiality in the low-of-page of each E-mail what, in theory, exposes its member elect to continuations if the e-mail is sent to a third person.

Religious confidentiality

The confidentiality is also associated with the relation between penitent and its adviser religious. In the Catholicisme (known as Roman), a priest cannot communicate to a third party what was revealed in the Sacrement of reconciliation, to even save their own life or that of another.

See too

Internal bonds

of it

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