“Are you in front of the system? If you are in front of the system I can explain you step by step….. OK first you have to get into the system. Open the browser and type this URL….. OK in the login page you see type the user name as….. And the password is …”

This was a person conversing over his cell phone instructing his team member to access a system. His intention is to help his team member on a problem when he is not there around, but he was at a wrong place instructing him. The above conversation was when our friend was in a grocery shop while standing in the queue for billing and I was standing behind him. One can close his/her eyes and not see something that he/she doesn’t want to but it is almost impossible to close ones ears when the person is in the proximity of others (unless you try wiggling your fingers in the ear and blabber something simultaneously like Jim Carrey). A lot of people these days forget the environment they are in and disclose information not supposed to be let outside. Though we want this world to be ideal world we also know that practically it is not. All it matters is to be conscious of where you are and what you are going to talk about.

In most of the companies one of the primary legal requirements is that both the parties sign a contract called Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA). The purpose is that the information the customer is providing is confidential and should not be disclosed outside of your working environment. This not only includes any documents and mail communication but also by word of mouth outside the premises and sometimes even within the premises outside of your team. Now think of the above scenario and if the organization our friend is in has signed an NDA with the customer, with the information he has already provided anyone could get into the system and get hold of the information.

It is not just the above situation and NDA we are sometimes not even aware that we are exposing certain information in the public that could affect ourselves as well as others. Here is an example that I have seen so many times. Your friend calls you on your cell phone and asks for another friend’s phone number. How do you know that someone is not hearing you and memorizing the number of your friend?