Confidentiality Policy

All information received or made available to the ACS Certification Body, employees, subcontractors or committee members (in whatever form) received during the conduct of audit activities, during other accreditation activities, or during any dealings with an organization for any reason. Another thing to take into consideration, as strictly confidential and may not be disclosed to any third party (unless specified in ISO 17021-1:2015) without the express permission of the organization or individual concerned. The requirement to keep any information confidential will also extend to any organization that has a legitimate right to audit or inspect ACS's accreditation.

Where ACS is required by law to disclose confidential information to a third party, the customer or individual concerned must be notified in advance of the information provided, unless regulated by law.

However, where an organization is perceived to be operating in contravention of legal requirements or has operating practices that pose a risk to employees, customers or the environment, the ACS Accreditation Body reserves the right to immediately report any such incident to the appropriate authority. No such report will be conducted except with the permission of the Director General.

All records will be kept in a secure manner and are only accessible to authorized personnel via either paper records or password controlled electronic records. Subcontractors will be limited to the information they produce when conducting the audit. Records will only be available to organizations that can demonstrate a legitimate (and legal) right to view those records and specifically to accreditation bodies. For example, EGAC.

All employees, subcontractors, general managers and committee members will be required to agree to the ACS Accreditation and Confidentiality Policy and sign a confidentiality agreement. Subcontractors will also sign an agreement that also includes the responsibility to maintain confidentiality.