Forum: workplace.stackexchange.com
Tags: <professionalism><employees><confidentiality>
Title: Should I have shared a document with a former employee?
Question: My deputy manager who left 3 months ago is asking for a document that was shared with me and my team after they left, but they were part of the meetings that led to the preparation of that document. I have emailed it to them without consulting my manager. I was just thinking, was this okay to do?

Answers:
sents: text: You need to talk to your manager about this immediately.
text: You absolutely should not have done this.
text: This person is no longer an employee at your organization is not entitled to any company information.
text: It doesn't matter that they may have helped create the documents and probably know the content anyway, sharing it with them essentially makes it a public release.
text: Now, it may be that your manager says it's fine and would have told you to send it on, but you should absolutely not do this without written approval.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/16983/David K
score: 123
sents: text: No, don't share internal company information with non-members of the firm except in the course of normal business.
text: Previous employees do not have a legitimate interest in non-public company information (unless they are doing business with the firm).
text: It doesn't matter how sensitive the information seems or if it is marked confidential - unless you have permission to share the information, keep it private.
text: You should alert your manager or a trusted leader in the company.
text: Previous employees asking for information may signal a larger issue.
text: At the very least, make an individual in a management position aware of the data leak.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5652/Jay
score: 61
sents: text: Obviously you did the wrong thing, and the only question is whether you should own up to your mistake, or lie low and hope nothing bad happens.
text: The other answers tend to lean towards owning up, but I have to wonder: what planet are they on?
text: On planet Earth, the obvious and only course of action is to say nothing.
text: If you are found out, you can always plead ignorance; and if you are not found out, well then owning up would have been stupid, wouldn't it? PS
text: If you think this a question of ethics, ask yourself this: who stands to benefit if you own up?
text: Nobody.
text: Who stands to lose out if you own up?
text: You.
text: It's a no-brainer, if you ask me.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/52415/TonyK
score: 26
sents: text: Any company I've worked in, your action would be reason to terminate your employment and take legal action against you for breach of confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and document security regulations.
text: NEVER share information with people outside the company unless you are authorised to do so, and then only with people who are authorised to receive said information.
text: For example sending an updated installation manual to a customer for the product you're building for him is usually (but not always, there may be rules about who's allowed to communicate at all with customers)
text: ok, sending a design document for something to a random person outside the company, often even the customer for who you are designing that thing, hardly ever is.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/3429/jwenting
score: 8
sents: text: Without going into your actions, its obvious you know you have messed up.
text: So, I would simply weigh up your options.
text: And you have 2 really: Own up, with a risk of getting sacked.
text: Keep quiet with a risk of getting found out, and sacked Personally
text: I think there is more at risk with option 1.
text: I have in the past kept several spreadsheets I worked on from previous workplaces, just so I can re-use functionality in the future.
text: Whatever you choose to do cease contact with your former manager.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/95465/PeterH
score: 3
sents: text: It sounds like you don't know why they wanted it.
text: Some of the other answers assume their motivation was shady, which may be an appropriate assumption, or it may not be.
text: If they were really trying to do something shady, would they have asked you at all?
text: You should probably ask them why they wanted it, and ask them to keep the document confidential.
text: Best to have such conversation by phone or in person.
text: Their reaction will hopefully give you a better idea of what's at stake in the situation, if anything.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/30333/krubo
score: 2
sents: text: To answer the question as asked: you should not have forwarded any company document to a former employer, without approval.
text: Since you have done it, you now need to mitigate the effects: report the error in an appropriate manner.
text: There are few circumstances in which an employee will be sacked if they admit to a mistake.
text: In fact, even if the consequences are severe, most employers/managers want staff to feel safe about reporting honest mistakes that affect them.
text: A prompt report allows them to mitigate effects - in your case, determine why a former employee requested the document.
text: So you may get a talking-to, or even face some disciplinary action for a data breach (depending on how sensitive the document is, how well employees in your company are briefed about security concerns before starting a project, etc), but that is unlikely to be escalated to dismissal unless you build up a history of making the same sort of mistake repeatedly
text: - you are expected to learn from mistakes, not keep repeating the same ones.
text: The consequences will certainly be more severe - and more likely to include dismissal - if you don't admit to the problem, and your employer discovers it by other means - for example, during a data or security audit or if a manager is given a copy of the document by a competitor.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/33805/Peter
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
You should not have shared internal company information with someone outside the company. 
It is generally accepted that this is definitely not something that you should have done.