Confidential email sent to wrong address? | Email DLP | Egress I dont know whether you meant it this way, but the co-worker is not untrustworthy for reporting this. If anything went down, you could say But Older Coworker knew! This seems like a no-brainer to just not do, and if you did, certainly not to tell someone at work that you did this. Only hope going forward is own up flatly and without defensiveness . I get why maintaining confidentiality is important, and I understand why the OP was wrong in this particular situation, but balance is also needed. Your coworker was probably legally obligated to report this, and even is she wasnt this is the type of breach that reasonable people WILL report. Point isnt that OP doesnt have a right to feel what OP feelsif OP has a sick, gut-punch feeling, thats the truth of how OP is feeling. All we can do is learn, rest, and go on another day. An in-person meeting might be more appropriate if you accidentally sent information about your plans to find another job to your manager. Or well often hear from contacts on the Hill about something going on behind the scenes, like that a bill is about to be introduced. Sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise. I am assuming you had a clearance of at least Secret. How to handle a hobby that makes income in US. But how do I explain this story to future employers? They would definitely see any mention of confidentiality breach as a huge red flag and drop OP from the hiring process at once. Im a journalist, so, yes. This makes it seem like they owe LW something, to be loving and release her to her best life. Of course I understand that I broke a rule, and that it was my mistake 100%, and it was no one elses fault. If you had stayed, they would never have trusted you again. I would have ratted you out too. Damn, thats hard core. Your comment above is much closer to an effective track. From the other persons perspective, its always easier to say Oh, dont worry, its not that bad than to get a half-hearted minimizing apology for something youre really stinging from. Its a common occurrence, especially within a large business where autocorrect can incorrectly select people with similar names. I would feel terrible about it, definitely, and probably think about it for a while after, but ultimately, Id need to prioritize my family and act in a way that would protect my job/salary/health insurance so I could continue to provide for my them. Don't be me, is what I'm saying I guess! Age is hardly an indicator of a persons ability to consistently make the best choices at all times. Phrase it as a serious learning point, because you sure as hell aren't going to do it again after getting fired. I just wasn't thinking at the moment I sent the information. The damage from most leaks isnt visible until much later, but it can be massive. If it keeps happening, you can report the sender as junk or spam to block future messages. Or, heck, for all I know he didnt actually work on anything that interesting. That would likely lead to your manager also getting fired (for not firing you in the first place) and also make your entire department/agency look bad to the public (whod be wondering who else still working there has done something similar without getting fired). However, at the time, I did feel guilty so I confided in an older coworker who I considered a mentor. That doesnt seem to be you, which is a great sign. Later the coworker left the company and at company B was asked to write a similar report for the new company. How is an ETF fee calculated in a trade that ends in less than a year? LW, first, I want to offer sympathy. I am very, very lucky. This type of thing could have easily happened to your journalism friend in the office. Hes in an unrelated field, it doesnt affect him at all, and he wouldnt really care outside of knowing whats going on in Eddies life but hes a chatterbox and theres a decent chance hed forget and say something to someone. Thats the very last reporting step for something illegal/dangerous. ^^. I know it isnt the actual incident since the details dont match (no twitter or cake pictures mentioned in OPs case), but I was assuming it was something like the NASA gravitational waves thing. Its no more blind-siding because the coworker reported the issue, than it would be if, say, IT had reported it after monitoring OPs traffic. At some workplaces, the hiring process includes security checks that even go into your social media profile, blogs, etc, to see whether your personal communications display a suitable level of discretion. whatever you think is appropriate] to make sure it doesnt happen again.. Please keep us updated and let us know how things work out for you. I was under the impression that most big companies had a policy against telling a reference checker anything beyond dates of employment. Sometimes they do, and other times they tell the person telling them that they or their actions negatively impacted another person that *they* are the ones in the wrong for telling them something that made them feel bad. Maybe OPs workplace does the same? Excitedly texting confidential, FOUO information to a friend who happens to be a journalist, unconscious of the optics and real potential harm? ), Because honestly, the more I thought about this letter as I read it, the more uncomfortable I got, too. This will sound very, VERY strange, but if you have the urge to share things youre not supposed to, theres a trick you can try: telling a fictional character in an imaginary conversation. Nah. That was a stressful week for all concerned. Fascinating (and fun!) I didnt agree with it myself, and knew that it wasnt really possible without raising a lot of money, something my organization just isnt that good at doing. Yes of course it feels bad that you were fired. Its definitely not a spur if the moment decision. 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). Im still pretty upset that I had no second chance, but I suppose I just lost their trust.. This comment comes across as quite clueless I work for a government entity where nonpublic information often affects peoples day-to-day lives and pocketbooks and people put a lot of money (lobbying) into knowing whats happening. 4. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship. I dont mean to sound harsh but you really need to break out of this frame of mind. Yes and thats the consequence they now have to live with. Email Mistakes at Work: How to Survive Them - CBS News And it makes sense that it is. As this was almost the entirety of your job they really couldnt keep you around. Agreed, except for this: a journalist, who by profession is at risk for leaking said confidential information. Accept responsibility for what you did. Long since past, now.). How Should You Respond to an Accidental HIPAA Violation? It involved something the OP had learned about in confidence, but hadnt even been publicly announced and the OP blabbed about it to someone completely unrelated to her job. But despite how liberal weve gotten with sharing information, you really do have to be very strict about upholding confidentiality policies without making any exceptions. I tell the character and imagine their response, and the urge to share subsides. Sure, its not going to be easy, but being honest and upfront will serve them a whole lot better than a potential employer finding out from a different source (and its not unlikely that they will find out). Moving on from that company is probably a mixed blessing. Not advising you to lie, but you can present the circumstances in as flattering manner as you like. This is awkward to frame as apparently it would have passed unnoticed if you hadnt taken aim at your own foot and then pulled the triggerit would be better if you were fired after fessing up to your superiors, rather than involving anyone else. can you get fired for accidentally sending confidential information The coworker is not a rat or at fault here. But when youve broken someones trust, they dont owe it to you to offer that opportunity and shouldnt offer it unless they sincerely believe that you could meaningfully repair the breach quickly and comprehensively. I dont / cant post it publicly, but I can share all kinds of stuff with people close to me even friends in journalism, though I always specify off the record before i dish and my employer doesnt care because the concerns about confidentiality arent strict NDA / security issues. For many fed and state agencies, non-public records _must_ be released on a records request despite their non-public status unless they fit into a narrow set of explicit exemptions. Thats pretty ratty behavior. Email Basics: Email Violations Can Jeopardize Your Job - GCFGlobal.org Ive had the occasional day when Ive really wanted to tell someone I met X today! And while you felt mad at coworker, really youre mad at yourself. Well, this is both unkind and off-base. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has also issued a written rebuke to Christopher Gossage, of Russells solicitors, who confided to his wifes best friend that Robert Galbraith, author of The Cuckoos Calling, was really one of the most famous and wealthy authors in the world. I thought it was over. I stopped when my boss had a stern talk with me about it, but also because I noticed that I was getting the bad news later, too (other people at my level were told about layoffs the night before, I was told shortly before the companywide announcement) and I realized I was getting a reputation as someone who could not be trusted to keep my mouth shut. Yes, when I worked at a financial firm I believe that exact question was on a privacy training test: If I run across the name of a celebrity in the client management system while performing my duties, its okay to tell friends and family about it, True or False?. This friend understood the gravity of the information I told her, and I 100% trusted her to not leak it. You didnt have a right to privileged information once you demonstrated that you werent trustworthy. One of the things your field requires is to be able to think and act dispassionately about the information you have custody over. While it is possible the line could be actively tapped/monitored by someone else, even if it was an unsecured line it would be reasonable to assume the home phone number on file for GSA's dad would lead to the dad. Thank you it was getting boring to read everyones outrage. Then the second paragraph said Do not release this information to anyone outside of the office because the press are not to know about these changes until the morning of the event. Egress Software Technologies Ltd. Find out what you should do when a misdirected email lands in your inbox. Im going to go see how they reviewed it.). Absolutely this. I agree with you! While they may not state why someone was fired, Ive found it pretty common to state that someone was fired (or laid off etc) and if the person is eligible for rehire. 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. (For example, my BFF works at the Pentagon. journalists dont leak information, unless its something confidential about their own employers. He was employed elsewhere within a few weeks. You certainly don't need to blurt out a 5 minute monologue unprompted, but you do want to be ready to answer these questions because they will come up if you disclose what happened as you intend to. I hope you mean it when you say you understand the magnitude of this mistake and why you were fired for it. You wrote, The only reason I got fired was because I was ratted out by a coworker for a victimless mistake and was fired unfairly. But you werent fired because your coworker reported you; you were fired because you broke a serious rule. I wonder how trustworthy the LW considers themself (sp?)? I dont think your coworker ratted you out. They are pretty free with stating exactly why someone was fired. OOPS! And, yeah, that happens, its part of being a human. LW, I work under some pretty hefty NDAs (currently, Im working on a project where the security protocols themselves are considered to be non-shareable with anyone who doesnt have a business need for them and hasnt also signed an NDA. The LW actually had a responsibility to keep the info confidential, and the friend doesnt. But your wording indicates that you dont yet have insight into just how much you breached the trust of your company. In fact, if you are being sent overseas, you have to take a special counterintelligence training before you go that includes tips like dont wear items with your agencys name written on them while you travel and never park next to a panel van.. This issue recently came up for me as an interviewer. That makes a certain subset of people *extremely* excited. how do I get out of an active-shooter drill at my office? This is NOT a myob type situation at all. Based on the post its probably public now, so I would guess its likely not too exciting. It also wasnt illegal to share it, because it was about a program or something that has now publicly been announced, so this doesnt even fall under the criminal aspect brought up in the original comment. What video game is Charlie playing in Poker Face S01E07? If it was the 2nd option then, yeah, they were going to let you go. If I was that coworker, Id have to think shed continue to go around blabbing about this, and there is No Way I could just sit on it until *I* got called on the carpet. The enforcement has to be based on the idea that the leak was damaging. Personal info is never OK to share with anyone, or things that could lead to recognizing a person if someone happens to know that person (and you never know who knows who). I actually think your big mistake was telling your coworker, not telling a trusted friend. This technique requires extra steps, but it . That response will likely impress an employer that she has grown and learned, that she is honest and has some self-awareness, and that she would be worth trusting. Either way, if you commit an offense, its best to never go with its not that big of a deal anyways. Owning up to your mistakes at the right time is hard and the natural instinct to defend yourself is strong, but ultimately thats the best thing to do and garners respect. OP, its great that you trusted your friend enough to be confident that she wouldnt share what you told her. 2. Theres no such thing as blind-siding once youve committed an infraction and people have to act on it. Even though I was only suspended for two weeks, it hurt so, so much. One of my friends is working on projects that she cannot list on her resume now that shes applying to jobs and I only know that because Im looking at it and she told me shes frustrated because she has good work that she can quantify but cant talk about yet. The person you wronged is not obligated to give you that second chance with them. First coworker was fired in spite of the fact that he was a brilliant and (normally) even tempered guy with years of work at the corporation. (Also the NASA leaker didnt get fired. I wouldnt be surprised if there was a state or federal regulation that she violated by sharing that information. Much safer. I reminded him that anything sent in our work email is subject to FOIA and not really completely private from our employer, so if he was going to continue to work against the plan, use personal email. Because, if you did the first apology option then I think it would be (more) possible youd get a 2nd chance. You really think a lawyer would publicly (extremely publicly) admit to doing something he hadnt done, for which he was sanctioned and fined by regulators, and permanently ruin his own reputation in the process? If you own your mistake, meditate on it, learn from it, and learn to tell the story of how you learned from it, then you might be able to get another job in the communications industry working for a company that does not handle sensitive client data, or in another industry where there are no potential confidentiality issues with your job. That was not an enjoyable situation at all. You simply let the sender know you've received it by accident, then they can rectify their mistake and you can delete the email.