Brian Edelman, CEO, Financial Computer Services Inc, is a nationally recognized technology expert that specializes in the needs of Financial Service Sales Offices. | Why Do Advisors Continue To Use Free Gmail Accounts? Do They Not Know The Risks? |
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| Wednesday, February 22, 2012 13:26 | ||
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This week I received yet another question from an advisor asking if it was ok to use a “free Gmail account” to conduct business. If you're a private wealth advisor, please join Advisors4Advisors (A4A) to get its full benefits. Register now, and we will donate $20 of our $60 membership fee to Bubbles The Clown’s financial literacy program, and you can post an icon on your website saying you support Bubbles' 501(c)3 charitable organization. Plus, get other membership benefits, including:
In fact, Google recently published an update to its privacy policies, which in summary states if you use a free app of theirs, like Gmail, Google+, Picasa etc… ,they have a right to your information. This update to the Google’s privacy policy prompted Congress to conduct hearings to protect consumers. I have not met an advisor who did not care about their clients. So I am assuming any advisor using these services just does not know the risks. Some of what you should be doing to protect a clients private data:
1. Use a paid and compliant email system.
2. Use email encryption when sending private data.
3. Use a compliant client vault to share private information with clients.
4. When using a consumer service, especially free services, read and understand their privacy policies.
If have read this blog and continue to use a free email service anyway, then either you do not care about your clients or are asking for problems.
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