Draft Autscape General Confidentiality Policy
The key principles of this policy are that:
* Autscape participants are entitled to confidentiality in
respect of their personal information. Documents and their contents which
might potentially identify any participant must be kept strictly
confidential. [This issue is covered in more depth in the participant
confidentiality policy]
* Information concerning the internal operation of Autscape
should be generally treated as confidential. No public disclosure of any
Autscape private documents (whether paper or electronic) or their contents
may be made without the prior agreement of the Board.
All directors are required to maintain confidentiality in respect of
matters which come to their knowledge in the course of their involvement
with Autscape and when they cease involvement with the organisation.
Generally, no disclosure of any Autscape business may be made to any
non-director without the prior agreement of the Board. No public disclosure
of any Autscape private documents (whether paper or electronic) or their
contents, for example minutes of closed meetings, emails, draft documents
under discussion, may be made without the prior agreement of the Management
Committee. Prior agreement is taken to exist for the disclosure of
information by directors to subcommittees and working groups which is (a)
relevant to their work; (b) does not contain participant personal
information unless all current members of the subcommittee or working group
have agreed to the participant confidentiality agreement.
All members of the board must agree to this Restrictive Covenant
Agreement. The procedure shall be that each newly elected member of the
board must agree to the "Restrictive Covenant Agreement" before being
subscribed to the email list of the board and accepting full membership of
the board.
Members of board elected before the drafting of the Restrictive
Covenant Agreement are expected to agree to the Agreement upon its
ratification by the board. The board may require additional individuals to
sign the agreement prior to being given access to confidential Autscape
information in order to do delegated tasks.
In the event that information covered by this agreement falls into the
public domain (by any means), all those who are otherwise subject to this
agreement are released from it in relation to the specific information
concerned. However, in such a situation, board members should continue to
seek the consent of the board before releasing any additional information
even if the information is on the same general topic.
Whistleblowing. Where a board member has concerns about the use of
Autscape funds or other matters of legality or ethics, he or she may contact
external agencies for advice outside of the usual grievance procedure.
However the consent of the Chair, or preferably, the entire board should be
sought whenever possible. Such requests for advice should not breach the
confidentiality of individual Autscape participants without the consent of
the board.
Organisational development. Board members and former board members may
discuss in public general principles relating to the functioning of the
organisation. In doing so they may refer in general terms to their
experiences within the organisation provided that (a) they confine these
references to experiences more than 18 months previously; and (b) in doing
so they do not identify other individuals (including other board members)
without their consent; and (c) they do so in the interests of promoting the
good of the organisation and seeking to avoid damaging the organisation; and
(d) they respect the wishes of the current board if asked to restrict or
cease such discussions. This provision is not intended to cover the
disclosure of substantive confidential information about Autscape business.
A known violation of the policy on confidentiality may result in a
written warning or disciplinary action in accordance with Autscape's
governing documents and adopted policies.