Privacy is important, anyone can tell you that. We are all used to procedures and protocols that we employ to keep our personal information private. From time to time, we hear about instances where private information was released, and the damage that the victim(s) will likely face.
At Historical Arts & Casting, Inc., we understand the need for privacy. We know that our clients are trusting us with all kinds of information which, if released, could put them in a compromising position. We have thus become accustomed to handling this private information. As a company, we work very hard to keep things private that should be private. We endeavor to only release information to the public in ways that are consistent with our clients’ discerning privacy expectations.
At the most basic level, consider implicitly confidential information. Our clients can rest in the knowledge that, even without a legal structure in place, HACI will not share information to which any normal understanding of the word “private” would apply.
Some clients, however, are more explicit with their privacy concerns. These clients approach the subject either formally or informally. An example of an informal approach might be a client or their representative asking for certain additional privacy measures in conversation, through correspondence, or by email, where they would request that a certain aspect of their project be kept confidential. Though no legal document governs this sort of information safekeeping, HACI is happy to oblige.
There are also occasions where our clients (or their representatives) require an actual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to be in place. These documents are carefully written to protect the interests of the client. They are explicit in their wording about how and what kind of information may be disclosed. Just as in the informal type previously mentioned, NDAs can cover a range of degrees of privacy. The most strict NDA that HACI has ever worked under required us to purge all of the client’s information from HACI’s systems (except for accounting records necessary for business purposes).
In 2017, our estimator received a phone call from a potential client, who revealed that they had purchased two bronze wall sconces at an auction. They learned that HACI had made the light fixtures, and called us. The potential client requested that we produce two more identical fixtures, as there was a need for a total of four. They followed up their phone call with an email that included photographs of the original fixtures. It was clear to our estimator that HACI had indeed made the fixtures. However, in the original NDA, HACI had formed an agreement that we would not make that light fixture for any other client. At the request of the new, potential client, HACI tracked down the original client’s representative and explained the situation. Once we had determined that our original client had indeed sold two fixtures at auction, we were able to obtain a one-time written exemption from the original client to produce the two new fixtures that the new client needed. All of this was done without disclosing to the new client any personal information about the original client. In the end, all three parties — the old client, the new client, and HACI — were delighted with the outcome.