All information obtained during the certification process is treated as strictly confidential and is used only for the purposes for which it was provided.
During an audit, our assessors necessarily see how your organisation really works — its documents, its data, its processes and sometimes its weaknesses and vulnerabilities. That level of access is a genuine privilege, and it carries a correspondingly serious responsibility. We treat every piece of information accordingly, because your trust in our discretion is part of what makes an honest, open and genuinely useful audit possible in the first place. An organisation that fears its sensitive information will leak will never audit openly, and a guarded audit helps no one.
Why confidentiality underpins good auditing
The value of an audit comes from honesty — from a client feeling able to show an assessor how things really are, including the imperfect parts, so that real issues can be found and fixed. That honesty depends entirely on trust that nothing shared will be misused or disclosed. Confidentiality is therefore not a mere courtesy layered on top of the audit; it is one of the foundations that makes a meaningful audit possible at all.
What this means for you
- Client information is protected and accessed only by authorised personnel who genuinely need it to do their work.
- Information is disclosed to third parties only with your explicit consent, or where required by law or by our accreditation body.
- Where disclosure is legally required, you are informed unless doing so is itself prohibited by law.
- Records are stored securely, protected appropriately, and retained only for as long as they are genuinely needed.
Our people and partners
Every member of staff, every contracted assessor and every committee member is bound by written confidentiality obligations that cover all information they encounter in the course of their work — both during the engagement and after it has ended. Confidentiality is not a temporary courtesy that expires when the audit is over; it is a lasting commitment that follows the information for as long as it exists in our care.
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