Subscriber Discussion

Are IPVM Employees Under Confidentiality Agreements?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
•Mar 07, 2018

As I was filling out a survey, I found myself wondering if IPVM Employees are under confidentiality agreements.  This spun into me wondering if all IPVM employees are able to see who the authors of "Non-Disclosed" posters are through their employee IPVM accounts.

As IPVM grows, and there are more employee contributors who were once (or still are) affiliated with manufacturers or integrators, are there safeguards in place to protect the IPVM consumer who answers surveys, asks questions, or responds to posts?  Or by joining and paying did we accept that there can only be some much anonymity? 

Posted by (curious) Undisclosed Integrator

 

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JH
John Honovich
•Mar 07, 2018
IPVM

Yes, IPVM employees are under confidentiality agreements.

We've only had one issue, a number of years ago, and it's something I do take seriously. It's important for members and myself personally to ensure that confidential information is kept confidential.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
•Mar 07, 2018
In reply to John Honovich

I know that a IPVM staff member is related to a local competitor of ours. Can all staff members see our info even if we are undisclosed?

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JH
John Honovich
•Mar 07, 2018
IPVM
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #2

#2, it's definitely a fireable offense for any IPVM employee to share competitive information.

I do not know who the staff member is you are referring but I do not know why or what information they could possibly share that is meaningful.

To be clear, I take this seriously but I am trying to understand what could we possibly share that would be of value. Feel free to elaborate here and I am also happy to discuss privately - john@ipvm.com

Avatar
Campbell Chang
•Mar 07, 2018
In reply to John Honovich

A potential issue could be if IPVM staff can see who is Undisclosed, then they could potentially take posts from the forum and either pass them on to the competitor or use the posts to say oh, John from Company A thinks this about your system.

 

I don't think that any staff would, but it's not completely farfetched that it couldn't happen.

JH
John Honovich
•Mar 07, 2018
IPVM
In reply to Campbell Chang

Theoretically, that could occur but (1) it's never happened and (2) that would be exceedingly dumb, considering it's a fireable offense and of extremely little benefit.

MM
Michael Miller
•Mar 07, 2018
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #2

UD#2 what about the design tool.  Can IPVM employees access designs? Can anyone but the person who created the design access them? How are they secured/encrypted? 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
•Mar 08, 2018
In reply to Michael Miller

We too are interested in this and do not use the tool for this reason. I think those separated from the integrator world tend to forget how incredibly competitive the industry actually is - from clients, to bids, and even experienced technicians. 

And while someone actually breaking an employment contract, non-compete or NDA is incredibly stupid it does happen. Even something as simple as sharing a potential opportunity with the wrong person (manufacturer, rep firm, etc) can run like wildfire rather quickly. 

Hearing about how the info is protected would be something we would be interested in. 

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U
Undisclosed #3
•Mar 08, 2018
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

"Hearing about how the info is protected would be something we would be interested in."

If it's protected, then IPVM should Prove to us!

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Avatar
Armando Perez
•Mar 08, 2018
Hoosier Security and Security Owners Group • IPVMU Certified
In reply to Michael Miller

What's funny to me here is that I use the IPVM tool less than I use other options, but I wondered this same thing a few days ago when I was checking fields of view for an opportunity that had come up.

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UE
Undisclosed End User #4
•Mar 08, 2018

If you are that paranoid, then read the following:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/11/nsa-americans-personal-data-israel-documents

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JH
John Honovich
•Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

Thanks for the feedback. While there are a number of questions, the most common concern was IPVM employees having access to competitive information that could hurt member's business, so I'll start with that.

On the one hand, we have never had any issue with IPVM employees sharing competitive information and knowing who we hire and how we operate, I severely doubt that being an issue.

On the other, I can totally understand why someone would be concerned about this and respect that.

We've done 2 things:

  • We've blocked admin access to calculator projects. We have an admin interface but there is now no way to access any calculator projects through it (that includes myself). When we first launched the calculator, being able to quickly access projects, on occassion, for support was helpful. The calculator is quite mature now and in the atypical case someone needs support, they can send a screenshot or a download.
  • We've blocked general admin access to view who undisclosed posters are. We do need to know, on occassion, who is posting undisclosed (e.g., to check conflicts and to help), so I can't guarantee no one inside IPVM will know but this will increase confidentiality.

The other major question was the calculator projects themseves. We use IBM Cloud for calculator projects and they are encrypted 'in-flight' via HTTPS and 'at rest', when stored in the cloud.

If I have missed anything, just let me know as there was a number of comments. Feedback and further questions are welcome.

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