IAI Actuarial Core Principles · Business Management · Using data, company functions, people skills, influence and clear communication
A company's customer database in Chennai contains names, phone numbers and policy details. An actuary wishes to share an extract with an external consultant for a pricing study. Which approach is most consistent with sound professional practice on data use?
Share only the fields needed for the study, with identifiers removed or masked where possible, under agreed confidentiality terms and through a secure channel. This balances the business need for the analysis against the duty to protect customers' personal information.
- ASend the full extract, as the consultant is a professional and bound by ethics anyway
- BShare only the fields needed for the study, with identifying details removed or masked where possible, and under agreed confidentiality termsCorrect
- CPost the extract on a public cloud folder to make it easy to access
- DShare nothing and carry out the pricing study with no data
- Share the extract by personal email so it is delivered quickly
Explanation
Good practice is data minimisation: share only what is needed, anonymise or mask identifiers, and have confidentiality terms and secure transfer in place. Sending everything, using public or personal channels, or refusing to share at all fails to balance confidentiality with the legitimate business purpose.
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