Wallace SC&W Privacy Issues of Church Staff   Churches need to balance protecting the personal privacy of their Ministers and other Church Staff while also providing accountability and protection for the congregation against inappropriate behavior.  Unfortunately in many churches all too little has been done (e.g. policies, procedures) to deal with these issues.  In looking at this topic some of the things needing to be considered include: (1) Personal information should be acquired, disclosed, and used only to the extent and in ways that respect an individual's proper right to privacy. (2) Personal information should not be improperly disclosed, altered, or destroyed. (3) Personal information obtained for accountability purposes should be accurate, timely, complete, and relevant to the purpose for which it is being sought. (4) People should be informed prior to the collection of information as to what kind of material may be collected or monitored, in what ways that may be done, by whom, and for what purpose (e.g. by a personnel policy). (5) People should be provided with the opportunity to correct misinformation about what has been collected.   Confidentiality and Personal Privacy:  Beyond just the issue of having information that is of a secure nature (counseling notes, personnel issues, etc) which needs to be kept out of access of people, there is the issue of the staff’s need for personal privacy.  While it is a workspace, intrusions into it should be of an "expected and appropriate" nature and not arbitrary or invasive.  An expected and appropriate action would include things such as having the janitor come in to clean or the administrative assistant pick up or drop of work materials on the desk.  Arbitrary is to have a person just wander in and browse through files on the desk, or to have people feel free to go through the administrative assistants desk to see what is there (even if it is in an open area), or even to have a person who has some sort of authority (e.g. chair of board, property chair) to come in and rustle around. Without a justifiable reason for a person to be accessing the space then it probably is crossing a line of invading privacy.   Self-Protection: Staff members are wise in taking steps or in requesting certain things be done that help balance privacy with security (e.g. of integrity, against allegations).  For instance, having windows in office doors provides protection for staff persons.  Soundproofing (insulation and solid core doors) provide the privacy needed while the window balances that with an appropriate degree of transparency and visibility. If there is a situation that could be misinterpreted, (e.g. why is the male pastor meeting every week with the young lady new to the church?), then to bring a third person into the mix in order to provide protection would be wise. This might be to have an administrative assistant aware of a counseling session taking place (not the content but the reason for the meeting).  Another area of self-protection is to keep records of meetings, their purpose, etc. as well as some personal notes of what took place and was discussed.  It is amazing how a report of what happened in a meeting can be transformed or misrepresented to meet the needs of someone (intentionally or unintentionally). I remember having a member that became very upset about some reasons we had given to make changes in worship.  The explanations had been given over a year before and only because of having kept notes of the meetings and copies of articles/emails was I able to dispute the perception and correct what was being given as the “truth”.    Accountability of staff persons:  While there should be the expectation of privacy for the staff person there is also the need for accountability to maintain appropriate actions and behavior as well as the need for the congregation to be protected against wrongdoing (e.g. child abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate use of computers, etc.).  Most businesses and more and more churches are writing policies that outline the right of the organization to monitor certain behaviors.  For instance, computer use policies, in which there is the expressed right of the church to review computer activity (e.g. websites visited, use of email) is a growing focus.  It would also be helpful to write into job descriptions and letters of calling a clause that talks about the expectation of staff members “to maintain the morals and ethics of the Church as defined by the …..” Churches need to set up boundary lines of expectation and clearly communicate how those lines will be maintained.   Finally, while there needs to be actions by the church that to provide accountability, there also must be some sort of check and balances so that the “monitoring” doesn’t inappropriately cross the privacy line.  If there is an inspection of computers then there needs to be a policy in place or notification of staff beforehand that states this.  If a layperson is to go into the office then there needs to be a way to check and balance their reason for doing such.  If office keys are given out to laity individuals then there should be some signed release upon which they commit to act in certain ways.   Privacy is critical to people feeling valued and safe.  Being able to know that only appropriate things are going on at the church is also needed.  The balance between these needs is something each congregation must work out based on the specifics of their situations.  But churches shouldn’t wait until some sort of crisis to begin thinking in terms of how to deal with the issue.     Questions to ask about privacy issues: Who needs access to these things and why?  What is the proper person to be give the access?  How are confidential documents kept secure?  (is the office open but files cabinets are locked or a closet locked?  Who keeps all of the passwords for the computers?  (A master list needs to be kept so that if something happened to a staff member        all of the information isn't lost---or if they have to be fired for inappropriate behavior they can't hold you hostage with their password) What are the accountability procedures/demand for those who have access to monitor others?  How are staff appropriately monitored?                                                                                                                                                                                    June 4, 2008   Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (nonprofit consumer information/advocacy organization) http://www.privacyrights.org   Department of Defense and Joint Staff Privacy Office: http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/privacy/basicprinciples.html   Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet: A Guide for Educators by Nancy E. Willard, M.S., J.D. http://csriu.org/onlinedocs/pdf/srui/chapters/part3/chapterIII4.pdf