- January 6, 2022
- by Last expert
- Blogs, Legal Transcription, Transcription
- 0 Comments
Outsourcing transcription needs to a professional transcription company is undoubtedly one of the most cost-effective ways for law enforcement, lawyers, and law firms to save time and money in-house. However, before you share your secret documents, think about why confidentiality is so vital in legal transcription and ask the necessary questions to ensure your files are safe.
Some courtroom processes may be open to the public, but what about testimony, witness interviews, or wiretap recordings? As a lawyer, your field notes give you and your client a major edge in court, and the disclosure of this information to unintended and unauthorised parties could completely change the outcome of the case.
Wiretap recordings have a shady past in the United States, but when all other options for gathering data have been explored, a court might order the use of wiretaps to gather evidence. Transcripts of wiretap recordings have long been deemed more than just a memory assist in court – they’re really required in cases where the recordings are confusing. Any data leaking from such a document, of course, may cause severe delays in the case’s proceedings.
Professional transcription companies recognise the sensitivity of these papers and are delighted to explain their legal transcription process and sign the relevant documentation to ensure strict adherence to industry ethics. Let’s take a look at some of the finest procedures that reputable transcribing companies use to assure complete anonymity.
Confidentiality is intimately connected to legal transcribing.
It is true that strict adherence to the General Data Protection Regulation ensures that confidentiality is maintained; however, this does not imply that having a data protection officer (DPO) on staff is equally necessary. It is important to note that while having a DPO is not required, it is strongly recommended for all organisations that process personal or sensitive data.
Aside from the RGPD and the DPO, there is another guarantee: NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements), which is a confidentiality agreement on information that ensures that confidentiality in legal transcribing is maintained throughout the entire process and should thus be considered.
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Sign an NDA for confidential legal transcription
Signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with your transcription business is the first step in ensuring legal transcribing confidentiality. This requires them to maintain your personal information and project data secure at all times during the transcription process, including after it has been transferred to you.
Many reputable companies are required by the NDA to destroy transcripts and audio recordings from their systems once the necessary materials have been supplied to you for one-time jobs.
Train employees for industry ethics
Because of the transcription industry’s strict confidentiality standards, reputable transcription companies undertake a thorough background check whenever they hire a new employee.
While a corporation may adhere to strict confidentiality policies, it must also guarantee that its workers are well-trained in the best practises for maintaining complete project secrecy.
Security measures
Adopting suitable document security controls and protocols, such as encryption, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and Enterprise Rights Management (ERM), can help prevent concerns caused by unauthorised sharing or simple human error.
Custom document access restrictions can encrypt a file, restrict access to a specific server or laptop, or revoke document access depending on a set of pre-defined criteria.
Divide files into parts (data fragmentation)
Dividing the recordings into portions and sharing them with multiple transcribers to ensure complete confidentiality of legal transcripts is another wonderful approach to ensure complete confidentiality of legal transcripts. This eliminates the possibility of unauthorised distribution by ensuring that no one has access to the entire transcript.
However, assuring quality, truth, and consistency in a storey is a major downside of this procedure. Transcribers may find it challenging to construct a logically flowing transcript without context. Furthermore, even modest differences in skill sets might have a negative impact on the output.
How we ensure complete confidentiality of your legal transcripts at Virtual Experts
Virtual Experts is proud to follow industry ethics, and we maintain absolute confidentiality in-house and in all client interactions.
- When our employees join us, they sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
- SSL certificates encrypt all customer interactions on our website.
- Only authorized workers have access to our clients’ personal information
- After two weeks, all audio/video files provided by clients are erased from our server.
- A transcript can only be accessed by those who have a direct link to it (which is basically you when you work with us)