The following inquiry was posted to a 1,000-person listserv for counseling professionals:
I am working with a 54 year-old Latino client who is attempting to identify career options. Her previous work history includes:
- Writer (she writes about foods and restaurants, she is a gourmet cook)
- Freelance proofing/editing
- A mediation specialist for community disputes
- She handled a customer service department in the private sector
- Worked as a public information specialist creating brochures for government agencies
- Radio broadcasting, sales, and advertising
She has an undergraduate degree in communications and media ('81) and is completing her master's in English. Her thesis and area of greatest interest currently is in media literacy. It deals with educating the public about the impact media has on us, particularly the influence of violence.
Here are the "kinks" in helping her explore her options:
- She REALLY wants to live in a rural area, and preferably in the Northwest or New England.
- She has developed a vision "disability" that is making any close work difficult for her. She is seeing specialists for this condition and is not losing her sight, but eyestrain causes her eyes to cross. As much as she really enjoys desktop publishing and proofing work, she has estimated that she could do this work only about 25 percent of the time.
- She has developed a loss of range of motion in her right wrist making typing difficult. At home she uses voice recognition software where she talks and it types for her.
I would love suggestions of things she might pursue in the public relations/media/journalism/mediation areas that would accommodate her disabilities.
Questions to consider:
- Is the level of detail in this list serv e-mail appropriate?
- Has a breach of confidentiality occurred between the counselor and client?
- What rules or guidelines would you propose for disclosure of client information on a professional listserv?
Steps to Resolution
1. What relevant facts are known?
a) A Career Services professional shared detailed client information in seeking advice on career options.
b) The professional shared confidential information, including that the client is a member of a protected class, her sex, her age and that she has a disability.
c) We assume that the professional did not get permission from the client to present her case to the list serve.
d) List serves, while restricted in membership, are in the public domain.
2. Identify the NACE Principles in question.
a) Principles for Career Services Professionals #7—Disclosure of Student Information: "Any disclosure of student information outside of the educational institution will be with prior consent of the student unless health and/or safety considerations necessitate the dissemination of such information. Career Services professionals will exercise sound judgment and fairness in maintaining the confidentiality of student information, regardless of the source, including written records, reports, and computer data bases."
3. Discuss practical alternatives that are consistent with NACE Principles.
a) Share with the client the article on "Playing Fair…Your Rights and Responsibilities as a Job Seeker," in NACE's Job Choices magazines, pointing out her rights to confidentiality.
b) Request permission from the client to share detailed, confidential information on the list serve, prior to using it as a resource.
c) Fully disclose the list serve membership, and its potential accessibility to the client.
d) As an alternative, offer to discuss the issue with a select group of colleagues, as opposed to a list serve where the membership is unknown. Even then, steps a, b and c should be followed.
e) If the client agrees to have information shared, whether on a list serve or to a specific group of colleagues, be sure to indicate to the group that the client's permission has been obtained.
4. Decision
a) The career services professional posting this case should be informed that this is a violation the Principles for Professional Conduct, specifically Principle #7.
b) They should be made aware of the alternatives, as listed above, that should be followed to avoid this breach of client confidentiality
c) Counselors should be reminded that information shared on list serves and other electronic media should be considered public information.
d) Clients should always be consulted before a career services professional seeks advice on their case and be informed of their rights to confidentiality.
e) The client in the case should be informed about the breach of confidentiality and given a copy of the "Playing Fair" article. They need to be assured that this breach of confidentiality is being taken seriously and steps have been taken to prevent this from happening in the future.
f) The counselor should consider posting the "Playing Fair" article in the career services office so that students are made aware of their rights.