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Protecting Video Assets – a New Frontier for Corporate Governance and Risk Mitigation

Protecting Video Assets – a New Frontier for Corporate Governance and Risk Mitigation
Posted by  Jason Karp May 4, 2022

The workplace is changing. As more employees embrace opportunities for remote or hybrid work arrangements, companies are leveraging video technology, including both live stream and on-demand (asynchronous) formats, as a primary means of communication with their distributed workforces. For example, video is frequently used to onboard new employees, conduct employee workshops/trainings and engage with employees in virtual town hall style meetings.

As a result of this explosion in video use, companies are now facing a host of new compliance issues, such as how to ensure the accessibility and searchability of video assets for its employees in an automated and secure fashion. In many cases, audio and video files will include confidential, proprietary or highly sensitive information that must be protected and preserved for legal, regulatory or confidential business purposes. Moreover, since video is capable of conveying even more information than a written document through such non-verbal cues as facial expressions, body language, inflection and general emotion, its protection is even more critical.

For these reasons, companies should be tracking the type of information which is included in their videos by developing policies, procedures and tools to protect and manage video assets in support of business policy and legal requirements. However, before you decide on a set of protocols for your company’s video assets, consider the following key questions:

  • Do your videos contain only non-sensitive information with little or no need for reuse?

  • Will some videos need to be re-used easily and often, including, for example, training or onboarding videos, CEO town halls, product launch assets, critical customer facing information or emergency communications?  

  • Will certain videos require restricted access, such as for legal purposes or for the leadership team only?

  • Do you have a system in place that can automatically route new videos to specific audiences, including, for example, new product feature releases or recorded CEO town halls?

  • How long must your videos be maintained and how do you want them organized/managed for easy consumption? For example, do you need the ability to search archived videos by topic, speakers or discussion?

  • Who will have administrative access to these videos? Will IT have full administrative access or must access be limited to a few individuals? Determining who can create, edit, delete, and view content is particularly important for any assets that include personal or other highly sensitive information.  

  • Who will ensure that this access matches the company’s needs?

  • Who has the ability to record video? Does your entire staff need to be able to create video, or only select subgroups?
  • Do you have a centralized content management system or do the assets live in multiple environments, on individual PCs, or among different department servers or third-party cloud storage?

  • Does your document management policy contemplate video assets and are there appropriate rules regarding the storage, access, archival, and automatic deletion of digital video assets?

  • Are these assets fully encrypted and protected from outside threats?

  • Do you need certain assets to be password protected?

  • What workflows, if any, are implemented, and what do the desired workflows look like? For example, is asynchronous video being used to share information among certain decision makers, scrum teams, sales, finance or to obtain approvals? How then is your video production and content management system integrated with your enterprise workflow management platform or ERP?

  • Do you have the ability to search, audit and authenticate the content within these video assets? This capability is particularly important for litigation and regulatory compliance purposes when the company may be asked to verify the integrity of the original video and certify that it has not been modified.

Once you have identified your company’s specific needs by answering the questions posed above, the next step will be sourcing and implementing the tools required to protect and manage your video asset needs. The right video or record keeping platform will not only address these basic considerations, but will do so with your company’s policies and ever-changing regulatory compliance obligations in mind. If you have questions about how to protect or manage your video assets, please contact Jason Karp at [email protected] or 571-233-3829.

 

Jason Karp is a Member of our New York-area team with more than 30 years of experience in the telecom, technology, media, XaaS, and public safety industries. Jason works with businesses of all sizes, handling a wide range of complex commercial and corporate transactions, as well as business operations and market strategy, corporate governance, compliance program development and implementation, and regulatory and policy advocacy and strategy. He also serves as Chief Legal and Human Capital Officer for Affinaquest.

 

This publication should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances not an offer to represent you. It is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. The contents are intended for general informational purposes only, and you are urged to consult your attorney concerning any particular situation and any specific legal questions you may have. Pursuant to applicable rules of professional conduct, portions of this publication may constitute Attorney Advertising.

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