It is vital that boards safeguard confidential documents regardless of the size of their organization or board. This means that the documents is not accessible to anyone who is not authorized to do so. This will help to avoid information leaks that could be detrimental to the company or cause an erosion of trust.
A comprehensive policy is crucial for addressing these concerns. The policy should ideally state that directors must guard any material non-public data they acquire or receive during their time on an advisory board. The policy should also clearly define what constitutes confidential information and include a clear declaration that any breach of confidentiality is considered to be a violation against the director’s fiduciary obligations to the company.
Most importantly, the policy should define the manner in which the board will react to any breach. The board should, generally take into consideration a variety of options, ranging from a censure from fellow directors, to, at a minimum, removal from board. This will ensure that the rules is considered seriously and enforced when needed.
To implement a robust board document security system, it’s essential that the secretary has a dedicated board management and distribution system. These systems can be configured within minutes and provide administrative controls and digital rights management (DRM), which are needed to assist the board secretary in securely sharing board documents. The system also gives the possibility of setting up specific access privileges for each individual with viewing and printing limitations, expiry dates for PDFs visible watermarks as well as the ability to review who has viewed the document.
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