In my Brazilian Portuguese translation business a huge amount of personally identifiable or confidential information related to my clients is processed every day. During translation processes, data privacy and confidentiality are taken very seriously.
In addition, I, Fabio Said, am bound by the Sworn Translation Laws of the German states of Bavaria, Hamburg, Saxony, Hesse, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia – where I am registered as a sworn translator – to maintain confidentiality.
Specifically, I have taken the following measures to protect you and your personal data in my translation business:
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No handling of enquiries over Facebook/WhatsApp
Job enquiries are never handled over Facebook or WhatsApp.
That bay be not so convenient for some clients, especially for Brazilians, who are eager users of social apps in everyday life. But most of my clients in Germany, who are more discerning and aware of the serious issues that such free internet platforms have, value confidentiality in their email communications.
Self-hosted emails
Email communications and client data management are handled in a secure self-hosted environment – never resorting to free email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail.
Using such free email providers in customer communications is a sign that the entrepreneur is indifferent to the protection of their clients’ data.
In addition, email assistance is only available for existing customers and/or after using the online assistance tool, which secures compliance with European data protection legislation.
This avoids wasting time with endless emails, so that Lingua Brasilis can focus on what’s most important, namely on processing price quote enquiries and translation projects in a speedy and professional manner.
Local data
All business and client information is stored in a local computer, never in a network computer, much less on a free – and therefore unsecure – cloud solution.
Caution:
Translators with no permanent business address usually keep data saved on Dropbox, Google Drive or icloud drive, services that are located outside Germany and, therefore, are not subject to Germany’s stricter data protection regulations.
No subcontracting
In my translation business there is no subcontracting whatsoever. If I can’t execute a translation job myself, I refuse it or recommend a trusted colleague. This results in a reduced risk of data being accessed by third parties and confidentiality being violated.
Attention:
When you hire a translation provider in Germany without knowing who exactly is going to perform the translation, the provider could send the document to be translated by unknown translators in other countries such as Brazil, and they will have unauthorised access a to your personal data such as name, taxpayer number, marital status, address, financial information, etc. without your consent.
Unfortunately, this happens often with translation providers who work with a “network of translators” and neglects data confidentiality.
Paper shredder for printed documents
I ensure that printed documents containing personally identifiable or confidential information are always shredded – such as translation drafts, invoices, quotations or printed copies of scanned documents to be translated.
Instead of throwing these documents in the paper trash, I use a P-5 security level shredder. It shreds documents in such a way that no one will be able to read them.
Please rest assured: In my translation business, your personally identifiable information and your documents are in very good hands!
For further information on data privacy at Lingua Brasilis, please refer to the Privacy Notice.
