Information security sounds technical, but most of it is everyday habits: locking screens, checking who an email is really from, and not pasting customer details into an AI tool that has not been approved. This guidance explains all of it in plain terms.
This guidance document is supplied in fully editable MS Word format and can be easily customised and edited. The document uses pre-defined style formatting throughout, with all text in Calibri font for improved readability.
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Further guidance on information security:
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Information Security - General Guidance
General guidance for all employees on information security, so everyone understands what it means, what their responsibilities are and how to handle information safely day to day.
Topics Covered
- What information security means, and what counts as information
- Your responsibilities, and handling information day to day
- Passwords and access, and email and suspicious messages
- Sharing information, working on the move, and personal devices and removable media
- Using AI tools - using approved tools only and keeping personal and confidential information out of tools that are not approved
- Common risks in the workplace, and reporting something that has gone wrong
- Further advice, with references to the related documents
Who Is It For?
Every member of staff who handles business or personal information. It works as induction reading, as refresher material, and as the basis for a short team briefing.
Included in the GDPR / Data Protection Toolkit
This guidance document is part of the GDPR / Data Protection Toolkit - the registers, forms, policies, procedure and guidance for documenting how you collect and process personal data, in one download.
Using the Guidance
Issue the guidance to staff at induction and when arrangements change, or talk it through at a team briefing. Record who has received it, so there is evidence that staff have been made aware of their responsibilities.
Why AI Tools Are Covered
Staff often reach for free AI tools to draft emails, summarise documents or tidy up spreadsheets. Pasting customer or employee details into a tool that has not been approved is a data protection problem, so the guidance makes the rule clear and explains why.
Adapting the Guidance
The guidance is fully editable, so add the names of your approved AI tools, your password rules and the person to report problems to.
Related Documents
Other documents in the GDPR / Data Protection Toolkit that work alongside this one:
Reporting Problems
The guidance tells staff to report anything that has gone wrong straight away, including information sent to the wrong person or entered into the wrong tool, so it can be dealt with quickly.
Would you rather we prepared it for you?
Our Personal Data Register and Privacy Notice Preparation service works through the personal data your organisation holds with you, including the AI tools in use, and prepares the register and privacy notice so they describe what actually happens to that data.
Personal Data Register and Privacy Notice Preparation