Even before the pandemic, hiring a virtual assistant is already a popular thing.  Businessmen have learned that outsourcing tasks can not only free them from tedious repetitive work, but it can also save them a lot of money on staffing.  So for years now, this has become a game changer for businesses all over the world.

However, in our experience, one of the most common concerns of potential clients is data privacy.  When you hire a VA, they will have access to most of your sensitive information.  The problem is that they are working remotely and thousands of miles away from you.  This is why, before hiring a virtual assistant, you must have data privacy in mind.

Here are a few things to consider:

1.  Sharing your passwords.  One good way to give access to your remote staff without actually giving them your password is to use LastPass.  You might also want to turn on your two-factor authentication system so you always know when someone is logging in to your email or social media account.

2.  Data storage.  You can create a folder on Google Drive and share that folder with your VA.  Then all of the documents that you want to share with your VA, place them there.  Just in case you end your contract with your VA, all you have to do is to remove his or her access.

3.  Confidentiality agreement.  Before you even start engaging with your VA, let him/her sign a confidentiality agreement.  Indicate what information they are allowed to have access to and how they are expected to handle and protect this information.  Ask your lawyer about this contract and how this works for international staff.

4.  Background check.  When our potential client wants to start a business partnership with us, some of them would ask for references so they can do a background check – which we give them immediately.  That is understandable because they want to be sure.  You should do the same thing when you are hiring a Virtual Assistant.

There are many other things that you can do to secure your data.  One of the best ways is to hire someone from an agency like Outsourced VA.  Working with a legit company gives you extra security because then your remote staff is under a legal contract locally so there is more legal control.  

If you do this, make sure to do the following:

1.  Check the legitimacy of the company.  Check when this company started, and if you can, check if they are a registered company in their country.  

2.  Check history.  Nowadays, it is easy to do a quick background check because of the internet.  Use that to check the history of a company.  Do they have a track record?  Check how active they are on social media platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.  See how people react to them, check reviews, etc.

3.  Contact their present or previous clients.  As I mentioned, some of our potential clients would do this and we don’t mind.  We have some clients of ours who will vouch for us.

Yes, hiring a Virtual Assistant can do great things for you and your business, but you also have to make sure that it won’t cause any damage or problems for you.  By taking proactive steps, especially in protecting your data, you can minimize whatever risk there is.