How to Get a Secure Transcription Service

Confidentiality and security are essential things when it comes to giving your private material to be transcribed by a stranger online. It’s especially important when you have a recording of an interview or some private discussion that isn’t meant to be public. Sometimes, you can’t even remember if there was some sensitive data on the audio or not, but it’s still necessary to protect its confidentiality. If you don’t want your audio to be leaked on the internet, you have to care about choosing the most secure transcription service.

Ways to Keep Your Transcription Safe

When you put any personal data on any website, you wonder if your information will be safe and secure. No one wants their materials to be used or even sold by random people. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention when you submit your audio for transcription on a website. There are several criteria that will help you understand whether you should trust the service or not. Decent services highlight all the security features on their websites, so if you can’t find any international accreditations, NDA, or other guarantees on the website – it’s a red flag.

International Accreditation

When you are choosing a service to trust with your transcription, pay attention to the international accreditations it has. Specifically, look for ISO 27001 and 9001. What do those numbers mean? The first one is focused on information security, and the second one regulates management systems in general. These two ISO will guarantee you the security of your information according to international standards. If you can’t find any mentions of this ISO on a service website, you better not work with it. A trustworthy transcription service must have international accreditation in any case.

Verified Workers

It’s another important moment that will provide the security of your data. If the service has in-house workers, your audio won’t be sent to someone unknown. Some transcription companies hire freelancers or remote workers unofficially to save money. Those people can steal your information and use it with no permission because it’s difficult for the transcription service to control foreign freelancers. Therefore, you have to check who you are going to send your materials to.

If the company has in-house workers, you can be more confident that the transcriber will follow rules of confidentiality. This way it’s going to be more secure and legal.

GDPR and HIPAA

Here are two more abbreviations for you to learn. Briefly, HIPAA and GDPR – are compliances meant to protect your personal data. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a policy to protect your medical and health data. And GDPR ( General Data Protection Regulation) is a set of regulations about the security of personal information in general, made in the European Union. It protects and regulates the usage of the data that incorporates in any business processes.

How does it work? Basically, if the transcription service breaks the rules of confidentiality and leaks your personal information, it will have to be punished for it. You don’t have to worry about any aspect of the transcription work if the service has GDPR and HIPAA compliances because they cover all the necessary rules.

If the service does not comply with these regulations, it’s a sign to avoid it.

NDA or Non-Disclosure Agreements

These agreements ensure that your audio materials won’t be published or spread anywhere in any case, so you don’t have to think about it. Many decent transcription services oblige their transcribers to sign NDA before they get to work with the client’s audio recordings. Sometimes, asking for an NDA – is the first thing to do when it comes to sharing any personal information with strangers. Be careful if the transcription company refuses to sign the non-disclosure agreements. It is suspicious and not trustworthy.

Ideally, NDA has to be a must of every transcription service. Remember, it’s not a privilege or a feature you have to pay for. It’s simply a necessity for every law-abiding company. If you are choosing between a cheaper service and a secure one, pick the second one, don’t save on your confidentiality.

Data Encryption of the Website

Last but not least – check if the whole website is secure enough. It’s pretty easy – all you have to do is look at the address of the website. Yeah, the one that starts with “HTTPS”. If you can’t find any “S” and only see “HTTP” in the address bar, it’s a sign of no data encryption. “S” stands for “Security”, and if the website has it in its address, all the data on it will be encrypted. So if you submit any audio on this website, it will be impossible for anyone to steal it. It also implies your personal and payment data, not only audio recordings and transcriptions.

Tips on How to Get Your Audio Transcripted Safely

Now you know the main ways to ensure transcription confidentiality. Let’s sum them up into a brief checklist, so you can learn it and use it whenever you need. Here are some steps you have to do before you send your materials to any transcription service.

1. Look for international accreditation. It’s the most important regulation that will save your audio recordings from being stolen or plagiarized.
2. Check if they have in-house workers. You can ask a support service about it or find information on the website by yourself. If they do – you can trust this transcription service.
3. Ensure that your materials are protected by compliances about the security of personal data. Remember these abbreviations – GDPR and HIPAA can guarantee you peace of mind.
4. Check the address bar of the website. If the transcription service has “HTTPS” in its address, the information on the website is secure.
5. Check the presence of the non-disclosure agreements. Every decent service that works with information has to sign them before taking any of the client’s data.
6. Simply look for reviews on the transcription service you are about to choose. Check out the reputation of the company and decide if you are ready to send them your materials. Our service can guarantee you high-quality transcriptions with total confidentiality.

Conclusion

It’s totally rational to be concerned about the privacy of the transcription services. Nowadays, cybercrimes are committed every day, and it’s hard to hide from them. Therefore, you have to learn how to protect your personal data. Are there decent and safe transcription services? Sure! You just have to be careful and recognize them by using tips from this article. Every reliable service will provide you all the guarantees of data confidentiality because it’s not a privilege; it’s a must,

Searching for the Secure Transcription Service?

We are here to help you. Our service will provide you maximum security of the audio recordings you send us. We hire only decent transcribers who sign the NDA before getting to work. Need your podcast, interview, or any audio transcribed? We can deal with any type of transcription work. Feel free to contact us to get a consultation or make an order. With us, you don’t have to worry about confidentiality.