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Encyclopedia > Confidential communication

Confidentiality has been defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as "ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access" and is one of the cornerstones of Information security. Confidentiality is one of the design goals for many cryptosystems, made possible in practice by the techniques of modern cryptography. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from national standards bodies. ... Information security deals with several different trust aspects of information. ... A cryptosystem (or cryptographic system) is the package of all procedures, protocols, cryptographic algorithms and instructions used for encoding and decoding messages using cryptography. ... The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages. ...


Confidentiality also refers to an ethical principle associated with several professions (eg, medicine, law, religion, journalism,…). In ethics, and (in some places) in law, some types of communication between a person and one of these professionals are "privileged" and may not be discussed or divulged to third parties. In those jurisdictions in which the law makes provision for such confidentiality, there are usually penalties for its violation. Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... See also Portal:Law The stela of King Hammurabi depicts the god Shamash revealing a code of laws to the king. ...


Confidentiality of information, enforced in an adaptation of military's classic "need-to-know" principle, forms the cornerstone of information security in today's corporates. Need To Know, also known as NTK, is an email newsletter, published late on Fridays, written by former Wired journalist and Irish Times columnist Danny OBrien and former Wired and Future journalist Dave Green. ...


Legal confidentiality

Lawyers are often required by law to keep confidential anything pertaining to the representation of a client. The duty of confidentiality is much broader than the attorney-client evidentiary privilege, which only covers communications between the attorney and the client. British barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ... Attorney/client privilege is a legal concept that protects communications between an attorney and their client(s) and keeps those communications confidential. ...


Both the privilege and the duty serve the purpose of encouraging clients to speak frankly about their cases. This way, lawyers will be able to carry out their duty to provide clients with zealous representation. Otherwise, the opposing side may be able to surprise the lawyer in court with something which he did not know about his client, which makes both lawyer and client look stupid. Also, a distrustful client might hide a relevant fact which he thinks is incriminating (because it shows motive), but which a skilled lawyer could turn to the client's advantage (for example, by raising affirmative defenses like self-defense). An affirmative defense is a defense used in litigation between private parties in common law jurisdictions. ...


However, most jurisdictions have exceptions for situations where the lawyer has reason to believe that the client may kill or seriously injure someone, may cause substantial injury to the financial interest or property of another, or is using (or seeking to use) the lawyer's services to perpetuate a crime or fraud.


In such situations the lawyer has the discretion, but not the obligation, to disclose information designed to prevent the planned action. Most states have a version of this discretionary disclosure rule under Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6 (or its equivalent).


A few jurisdictions have made this traditionally discretionary duty mandatory. For example, see the New Jersey and Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6.


In some jurisdictions the lawyer must try to convince the client to conform his or her conduct to the boundaries of the law before disclosing any otherwise confidential information.


Note that these exceptions generally do not cover crimes that have already occurred, even in extreme cases where murderers have confessed the location of missing bodies to their lawyers but the police are still looking for those bodies. The U.S. Supreme Court and many state supreme courts have affirmed the right of a lawyer to withhold information in such situations. Otherwise, it would be impossible for any criminal defendant to obtain a zealous defense. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... In the United States, the state supreme court (known by various names in various states) is the highest state court in the state court system. ...


California is famous for having one of the strongest duties of confidentiality in the world; its lawyers must protect client confidences at "every peril to himself or herself." Until an amendment in 2004, California lawyers could not breach their duty even if they knew that a client was about to commit murder. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Recent legislation in the UK curtails the confidentiality professionals like lawyers and accountants can maintain at the expense of the state. Accountants, for example, are required to disclose to the state any suspicions of fraudulent accounting and, even, the legitimate use of tax saving schemes if those schemes are not already known to the tax authorities.


See also

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also called a confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), confidentiality agreement or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties which outlines confidentiality materials the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict from generalized use. ... In the laws of many common law jurisdictions, the concept of legal privilege, or the rule that certain conversations are so private and confidential that they cannot be used as evidence in court, extends to communication between a patient and physician. ... Bank secrecy (or bank privacy) is a legal principle under which banks are allowed to protect personal information about their customers, through the use of numbered bank accounts or otherwise. ... Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from others. ... Media Transparency is the concept of determining how and why information is conveyed through various means. ... Look up integrity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Data Protection Act 1984 (DPA) is a British Act of Parliament that provided a legal basis and allowing for the privacy and protection of data of individuals in the UK. It was repealed by the Data Protection Act 1998. ...

External links

  • Template of a Confidentiality Agreement
  • Confidentiality Security Levels

  Results from FactBites:
 
Confidential Communication Definition | Define Confidential Communication | What Is It? (189 words)
The law recognizes certain parties whose communications will be considered confidential and protected, including spouses, doctor and patient, attorney and client, and priest and confessor.
Communications between these individuals cannot be disclosed in court unless the protected party waives that protection.
The intention that the communication be confidential is critical.
ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE (1306 words)
Confidential communications made by clients to attorneys in the course of the professional relationship are privileged.
Confidential communications from a patient to a physician made in the course of medical consultation or treatment are privileged.
Confidential communications made by a patient to a psychologist, and information acquired from the patient during examination, are generally privileged.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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