Hi Reader,

I want to get you thinking about something important that I see overlooked far too often.

Are you protecting your clients’ privacy?

And I don’t just mean their personal information. What about their data? Their IP? Their copyrighted materials? The work they’ve entrusted you with?

Are you using a password manager, or could a departing team member wreak havoc on your systems because you can't easily remove their access? Are your clients’ documents shared through a secure portal, or being tossed into public Google Doc files?

In the age of virtual teams, I’m regularly seeing this step being overlooked. And while industries like health and finance have clear standards around data protection, online business owners are often left to figure this out on their own.

That doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for it.

If you’re collecting or handling information about your clients’ businesses, financial activity, or personal situations, you have an obligation to safeguard it.

Today, I want you to audit this.

Take a look at how customers are sharing data with you and how you’re sharing that data with your team. Where does this need to be locked down so you're keeping your clients secure?

Here are 5 best practices to protect your clients’ data:

1. Know what info you’re collecting

Got 10 minutes? Visualize your client’s journey and data touchpoints from a bird’s eye view. Make a quick list of the form fields and questions you ask on your website, in your marketing, during onboarding, while selling, and while delivering services.

2. Publish an accurate privacy policy

Make sure your policy reflects what you’re actually doing today, not just what you set up when you first launched. You can grab our customizable privacy policy and other contract templates in our contract shop here.

3. Limit access to data

This is as simple as using secure systems to store and share info with your clients and team. We use Dropbox for secure file storage, Front to manage client communications, and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) to get signatures on legal docs and agreements. Plus, we limit which team members can access sensitive information based on the work they do - ensuring everyone only has access to what they need.

4. Set up multi-factor authentication

It’s never too late to set up a password saver like LastPass or Dashlane and an Authenticator app to keep all of your accounts (and the data you’ve stored within them) secure.

5. Transparent team communication

Make sure your team knows from day one how important data integrity is to you. Share these resources during onboarding, create a chat channel where you can share risks and questions, and make sure they’re included in your company’s handbook.

This is one of those areas where most business owners don’t realize there’s a gap until something goes wrong.

Inside The Fine Print Academy™, we walk you through how to identify these kinds of risks, strengthen your policies and contracts, and put the right systems in place so you’re not leaving your business or your clients exposed.

​→ Learn more about The Fine Print Academy™ here​

This is an incredibly important part of running an online business. Please don’t overlook it.

To protecting your people,