Imagine this scenario… The police show up at your office and demand access to records relating to one of your customers. You want to help the police (as you should), but are concerned about violating your customer’s privacy rights. What should you do?
Well, the first thing you should do is ask the police for written documentation relating to their request. You should also immediately contact a lawyer with appropriate expertise because this type of scenario can be a legal minefield. For example, are you actually dealing with the police or some bold scam artist? Do the police have the legal authority to demand the requested information? Should they have a warrant?
Presuming that you end up providing the records to the police, you’ll need to ensure that you’re not providing too much information. If the records of your customer are co-mingled with another individual, you’ll need to consider whether you can legally provide the police with access to the other person’s information. Are you then barred from telling the customer that the police were at your office? What sort of internal records should you keep to document that the police accessed your files? How long do you need to keep those internal records?
It’s never fun to say “no” to the police. They are, after all, typically armed. But hopefully the police will make it easy for you to satisfy yourself, and your lawyer, that working cooperatively with them won’t violate your customer’s privacy and unnecessarily exposing your business to liability.
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Thanks Brian! This was a timely and helpful article. It’s not unusual for our locations to have police follow our customers and ask us for information about our customers which could indicate Highway Traffic Act violations. Just this week I have been asked to comment and provide advice on this topic.
It’s always an awkward situation, particularly because our inclination is to work with law enforcement. I really like your suggestion however, to request the written authority and the opportunity to consult counsel. It’s not a refusal to help, just a way to make sure that we cooperate in a way that doesn’t infringe on our customers’ rights, or put us in the middle.