ThemeTech & the online room
CardCard 38 of 63
Questions5 to explore

Privacy & Security

Keep company & personal data safe

A remote session involves real data moving across tools and devices you do not control, and that creates obligations you cannot ignore.

Privacy and security matter in any workshop, but the risks are different online. A video call can be recorded and shared without consent. A collaborative whiteboard is a cloud document that persists after the session. Participants may share sensitive information in a chat that is logged by a tool they did not know was logging.

Most facilitators do not need to become security experts, but they do need to know what their tools do by default, communicate clearly with participants about recording and data retention, and follow their organisation's policies about what tools are acceptable.

Online, specificallyIn a physical room sensitive content stays in the room; online it can be captured in screenshots, stored in cloud tools, logged in chats, and shared from any participant's device, which means you need to be explicit rather than assumed.

In a remote session

The same building block as it plays out online: how experienced facilitators tend to handle it when the room is a screen. Illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

State recording policy upfront

Good facilitators open the session by stating clearly whether it is being recorded, why, who will have access, and whether participants can opt out; this is not optional when a recording is running.

Check what tools are approved

They check with their organisation or client which collaboration tools are approved for the type of data likely to come up, before choosing platforms for the session.

Set the whiteboard to expire

For sessions involving sensitive information, they use the expiry or access-control settings of the shared workspace tool to limit who can access it after the session ends.

Brief participants on screenshots

They include a line in the welcome package or ground rules about what participants should and should not screenshot, especially for sessions involving confidential strategy or personal data.

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

Are all the tools you are using approved by your organisation or client for the sensitivity of content likely to come up?
Will the session be recorded, and have you communicated this clearly to participants?
Who has access to the shared workspace after the session ends, and for how long?
Have you set ground rules about screenshots and data sharing?
What is your plan if a participant raises a concern about how their data is being handled?

What trips people up online

Free-tier versions of popular tools often have different data retention and access policies than paid enterprise tiers; check the plan you are using, not just the tool's reputation.
Forgetting to mention recording at the start is not a small oversight: in many jurisdictions it is a legal requirement to inform participants before recording begins.
Shared whiteboards remain accessible to anyone with the link unless access is explicitly restricted; post-session cleanup of the board permissions is often forgotten.