Learn why it’s crucial to closely monitor the vendor creating your law firm’s database to ensure data privacy and mitigate risks, including vendor’s awareness of privacy implications, potential vulnerabilities, and direct access to sensitive personal data.
Table of Contents
Question
Please use the following to answer the next question:
Richard McAdams recently graduated law school and decided to return to the small town of Lexington, Virginia to help run his aging grandfather’s law practice. The elder McAdams desired a limited, lighter role in the practice, with the hope that his grandson would eventually take over when he fully retires. In addition to hiring Richard, Mr. McAdams employs two paralegals, an administrative assistant, and a part-time IT specialist who handles all of their basic networking needs. He plans to hire more employees once Richard gets settled and assesses the office’s strategies for growth.
Immediately upon arrival, Richard was amazed at the amount of work that needed to done in order to modernize the office, mostly in regard to the handling of clients’ personal data. His first goal is to digitize all the records kept in file cabinets, as many of the documents contain personally identifiable financial and medical data. Also, Richard has noticed the massive amount of copying by the administrative assistant throughout the day, a practice that not only adds daily to the number of files in the file cabinets, but may create security issues unless a formal policy is firmly in place Richard is also concerned with the overuse of the communal copier/printer located in plain view of clients who frequent the building. Yet another area of concern is the use of the same fax machine by all of the employees. Richard hopes to reduce its use dramatically in order to ensure that personal data receives the utmost security and protection, and eventually move toward a strict Internet faxing policy by the year’s end.
Richard expressed his concerns to his grandfather, who agreed, that updating data storage, data security, and an overall approach to increasing the protection of personal data in all facets is necessary Mr. McAdams granted him the freedom and authority to do so. Now Richard is not only beginning a career as an attorney, but also functioning as the privacy officer of the small firm. Richard plans to meet with the IT employee the following day, to get insight into how the office computer system is currently set-up and managed.
Richard needs to closely monitor the vendor in charge of creating the firm’s database mainly because of what?
A. The vendor will be required to report any privacy violations to the appropriate authorities.
B. The vendor may not be aware of the privacy implications involved in the project.
C. The vendor may not be forthcoming about the vulnerabilities of the database.
D. The vendor will be in direct contact with all of the law firm’s personal data.
Answer
B. The vendor may not be aware of the privacy implications involved in the project.
Explanation
The correct answer is: B. The vendor may not be aware of the privacy implications involved in the project.
When dealing with sensitive personal data, such as financial and medical records, it is essential to ensure that the vendor responsible for creating the database is fully aware of the privacy implications involved in the project. The vendor may not have the necessary expertise or knowledge to handle such sensitive data properly, leading to potential privacy violations or data breaches.
The passage states that Richard’s primary concern is updating the firm’s data storage, data security, and overall approach to increasing the protection of personal data. As the newly appointed privacy officer, it is his responsibility to ensure that the vendor understands the privacy requirements and takes appropriate measures to safeguard the sensitive information.
The other options are not as relevant or accurate:
A. The vendor will be required to report any privacy violations to the appropriate authorities: While this may be true, it does not directly address the root cause of Richard’s concern, which is ensuring that the vendor is aware of the privacy implications from the outset to prevent violations.
C. The vendor may not be forthcoming about the vulnerabilities of the database: While this is a valid concern, the passage does not specifically mention this as a reason for closely monitoring the vendor.
D. The vendor will be in direct contact with all of the law firm’s personal data: While this is true, the primary concern is the vendor’s awareness of privacy implications, rather than simply their access to the data.
By closely monitoring the vendor and ensuring they are aware of the privacy implications involved in the project, Richard can mitigate the risks associated with handling sensitive personal data and fulfill his role as the firm’s privacy officer.
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