Episode 34 - When Employees Cooperate With Law Enforcement And Expose Personal Data

Data Privacy Detective

Picture frontline employees – like those at a motel’s front desk. In come ICE agents with gold badges asking to see guest logs, aiming to identify and track down undocumented aliens. What’s the desk attendant to do? Most likely, cooperate without thinking it through. This led to costly problems for Motel 6 – a $12 million settlement in the State of Washington alone. The lesson is this – don’t let frontline employees decide whether to turn over personal data of guests or customers. That’s a big decision that should be made at a higher level, in sync with the company’s privacy policy. This podcast explores what happened to Motel 6 and draws lessons for what a business should do to safeguard the privacy of customer data. If you have ideas for more interviews or stories, please email [email protected].