drpacman Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Hi, the question is about protection of Private data.I have to send a lot of personal info to my Accountant in Pakistan. Does NDA mean anything?Is there a recommended practice for this kind of concern?Thanks 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misscrystal Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Why would an accountant need a NDA? Are you saying you don’t trust your accountant not to tell people personal information?What you are asking about is Pakistani law. Do they have non disclosure agreements in Pakistan? Sure you can request that he signs one, why not? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpacman Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 Why would an accountant need a NDA? Are you saying you don’t trust your accountant not to tell people personal information?What you are asking about is Pakistani law. Do they have non disclosure agreements in Pakistan? Sure you can request that he signs one, why not?They get my and my family SSN, and all kinds of other financial data 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misscrystal Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 They get my and my family SSN, and all kinds of other financial dataWrite up one yourself and email it to him and ask him to sign it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpacman Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 Write up one yourself and email it to him and ask him to sign it.Well, that’s my question here. Are these agreements actually good for anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misscrystal Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Well, that’s my question here. Are these agreements actually good for anything?In the US they are. Who knows about Pakistani law? It’s unusual to ask an accountant to sign one. But I suppose you can ask anyone you have contact with to sign one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwriter Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Hi, the question is about protection of Private data.I have to send a lot of personal info to my Accountant in Pakistan. Does NDA mean anything?Is there a recommended practice for this kind of concern?ThanksI have to send a lot of personal info to my Accountant in Pakistan. Does NDA mean anything?It would be difficult to enforce. It would involve international law, and it would be costly.Why trusting a random person on the other side of the planet with that kind of information? Why not hire someone with an office in your own town? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpacman Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 I have to send a lot of personal info to my Accountant in Pakistan. Does NDA mean anything?It would be difficult to enforce. It would involve international law, and it would be costly.Why trusting a random person on the other side of the planet with that kind of information? Why not hire someone with an office in your own town?That’s ofcourse a possibility - typically a 10x increase in price for anything local, not just taxes. I’m more curious about Fiverr as a platform, and what kind of facilities does it offer for protection of private data? Are there any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydsolutions Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Suggest you read the Terms of Service at the bottom of the Fiverr main page for the rules as to how Fiverr works.Everything is explained there in great detail. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoinfinnegan Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Fiverr has no responsibility here in terms of privacy.If you send your info to someone in another jurisdiction and there’s an issue, an NDA isn’t going to do anything without huge money.If it’s personal data and financial info, surely criminal law would cover any misuse of it regardless of an NDA. What could the accountant do with the data that criminal law wouldn’t cover? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 I’d be furious as a client if I found out my data was being sent to an account on Fiverr. And an NDA wouldn’t make me feel better about that.You don’t know someone is credible and you can’t prevent them from misusing information. There are no checks and balances like you would have using a regular accountant. This is unnecessary and unprofessional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misscrystal Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Accountants do people’s taxes and they get people’s SS numbers as part of their job. It’s unlikely one would be passing that information out. My accountant is an elderly woman who has been doing people’s taxes for over 40 years. I don’t think I have anything to worry about with her. She is registered with the IRS. It’s helpful if you know the reputation of your accountant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Accountants do people’s taxes and they get people’s SS numbers as part of their job. It’s unlikely one would be passing that information out. My accountant is an elderly woman who has been doing people’s taxes for over 40 years. I don’t think I have anything to worry about with her. She is registered with the IRS. It’s helpful if you know the reputation of your accountant.Trust is only one part of it. Security is a huge concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misscrystal Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Trust is only one part of it. Security is a huge concern.My 75 year old IRS registered lady accountant with over 40 years of doing this I’m sure won’t be selling my SS number to anyone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 My 75 year old IRS registered lady accountant with over 40 years of doing this I’m sure won’t be selling my SS number to anyone.I didn’t say anything about selling. If you think that is the only security risk, you have some reading to do.Much of security breaches have nothing to do with the actions of the person who has the data.It’s worth reading up on.And you know your accountant and her accreditation. You know you could hold her accountable and she knows that, too.If there is a security breach in Pakistan with a Fiverr seller, which you don’t seem to understand how happens, you actually wouldn’t know and your accountant probably wouldn’t either. And there is no way to track it or hold anyone accountable.Accountants who charge cheap on Fiverr in Pakistan aren’t going to hire cybersecurity and formal record keeping processes, I can assure you. If they say they do, there is no way to prove it. And they won’t have insurance and if they did you likely wouldn’t be entitled to it.So no, it isn’t comparable to your accountant. At all.Disturbing to me that people don’t see the risks inherent in doing accounting this way.Plus, it isn’t just your data, it is your client’s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecubeideas Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 That is a serious concern, If the trust level is good enough, then no need to worry, Normally freelancers keep the data and never share or misuse if well instructed.Further, If you are not satisfied with the accountant, I recommend to check with a lawyer. I hope it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 That is a serious concern, If the trust level is good enough, then no need to worry, Normally freelancers keep the data and never share or misuse if well instructed.Further, If you are not satisfied with the accountant, I recommend to check with a lawyer. I hope it works.Like I said, the person’s use of the data is only one factor in security. Loads of things can happen totally without a person’s knowledge or control if they don’t have the right security and record-keeping in place regardless if they are careful and don’t share it. Trust isn’t going to help you if they don’t have that – and there is no way to prove that they do or don’t, including prove to your clients.The lack of literacy around data security really disturbs me. So many people think that the only thing that is likely to make something go wrong is if the person shares the data. Not at all. A million things can go wrong and there are also huge legal issues.I encourage everyone to read up on cybersecurity and privacy law. If a client’s data is breached under your care, you are in trouble. And there are many, many ways this can happen. I imagine you’d have some protection under Fiverr, but it’s still a huge risk, including to your reputation and your client’s businesses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecubeideas Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Like I said, the person’s use of the data is only one factor in security. Loads of things can happen totally without a person’s knowledge or control if they don’t have the right security and record-keeping in place regardless if they are careful and don’t share it. Trust isn’t going to help you if they don’t have that – and there is no way to prove that they do or don’t, including prove to your clients.The lack of literacy around data security really disturbs me. So many people think that the only thing that is likely to make something go wrong is if the person shares the data. Not at all. A million things can go wrong and there are also huge legal issues.I encourage everyone to read up on cybersecurity and privacy law. If a client’s data is breached under your care, you are in trouble. And there are many, many ways this can happen. I imagine you’d have some protection under Fiverr, but it’s still a huge risk, including to your reputation and your client’s businesses.Really appreciate your response that highlights basic security aspect, I believe it depends on the budget and scale of the project. The more you are concerned about the security the more amount likely to spend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)Your accountant has insurance. She has formal security and record-keeping processes by law and she is registered with the IRS. An accountant in Pakistan on Fiverr has none of those things or anything comparable and nothing requires him to. If he says he has them, there’s no way to prove it and it wouldn’t protect you anyway.Plus, you are sending super sensitive data over the internet, major issue, and presumably the accountant in Pakistan is just storing on a laptop and that laptop is in his house. Then he sends it back to you. Or maybe he’s doing these things with open WIFI. Or maybe he’s storing things on an inadequately secured website. You have zero idea and no way to track that.If your personal accountant had any of these issues and there was a hack or something, at least you could track that, sue and she would either be forced to change her practices or put out of business.If your accountant doesn’t have insurance and leaves your paperwork accessible, doesn’t use a secure connection, has holes in whatever technology she’s using, you should probably hire another accountant. If your accountant is comparable to a non-accredited, non-licensed, uninsured accountant in Pakistan and you have no rights or ability to track or hold her accountable, I’d suggest you get a different accountant.I sure do hope the two aren’t as comparable as you say they are. Or if you are hiring her under the table and she doesn’t have accreditation, that would also be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)Well, if you think someone getting a hold of social security numbers is no biggie, I can’t help you and sincerely hope you have no client information in your records.And inputs into forms are only one security issue, anyway. Like I said, all sorts of other things can be breached. I encourage you to learn up on cybersecurity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)No reason to care if there is a security breach? No reason to care what the privacy and security standards are in the place where your accountant does his work? Yikes. I can’t help you. Take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)Like I said, not at all comparable.Your dentist isn’t using a PERSONAL COMPUTER WITH PUBLIC WIFI AND NO INSURANCE. He is accredited and bound to the laws of your country and your relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)See above. For the fifth time, it’s not comparable.I sure hope you aren’t using an uninsured hospital that stores and transfers records with insecure connections and on an a personal computer. I sure hope you aren’t using a lawyer that isn’t accredited, whose practices you can’t track and who you can’t sue if something goes wrong.Legitimate businesses have standards and are held to laws.They also understand how cybersecurity and privacy law work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)That’s not what I’m talking about. Obviously anyone can access that information in that setting. Again: IN THAT SETTING.I’m talking about breaches and hacks, not some rogue staff member taking down information and running away with it. Obviously that can happen. But so what? We shouldn’t have security practices?Cybersecurity means things can be accessed OUTSIDE if the right processes aren’t in place. It means someone can break into a network and take things. Oh, that’s right. An accountant on Fiverr in Pakistan doesn’t even have a network or insurance… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanissocial Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Really appreciate your response that highlights basic security aspect, I believe it depends on the budget and scale of the project. The more you are concerned about the security the more amount likely to spend.All the more reason to not trust a cheap accountant on Fiverr.A security breach for a small, cheap project can hurt you just as much as as a breach in a larger, expensive project. Both are very risky. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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