Ethical Wall

An “Ethical Wall” is a system or practice that is set up to prevent the sharing of certain information between different groups of people within an organization. It is used to maintain confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest. Imagine it as a physical wall separating two rooms, where people from one side cannot see or hear what is happening on the other side. Let’s say there is a big company called ABC Corp. They have different departments, like Sales and Legal. Sometimes, people from Sales need to negotiate deals with external parties, while people from Legal need to handle sensitive legal matters. To ensure fairness and protect the interests of both parties, an ethical wall is put in place to prevent Sales from accessing the legal information and Legal from knowing the sales strategies. Here’s an example: Imagine you and your sibling have a secret. You don’t want your parents to find out, so you create an imaginary wall in the middle of your room using a blanket. When you are on one side, you can’t see or hear what’s happening on the other side. This way, you can keep your secret safe, just like how organizations use ethical walls to protect confidential information. One verifiable fact is that ethical walls are commonly used in industries such as finance and law. For instance, in the financial sector, ethical walls are established to separate departments dealing with different clients, preventing the sharing of sensitive information that could lead to insider trading or conflicts of interest. While it is challenging to provide exact statistics on the usage of ethical walls, their implementation has become increasingly important due to stricter regulations and the need to maintain confidentiality. Many organizations also adopt ethical wall software or technologies to ensure compliance and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.