Bloomberg announced today that it was putting new standards and theories in place in order to better secure the private data of its clients. The move comes in response to criticisms faced by the terminal operator in recent months after it was revealed that it’s news personnel were using private information in their stories.
Back in May, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) complained that Bloomberg reporters were using information gathered by its financial information terminals in order to add to stories, and gain an edge on media competition. The company has made several changes in order to prevent this from happening again, according to today’s statement.
Two reports about the data sharing problem were released by the company today, along with its response to them and its plans to improve data security in the future. The first report on data security at Bloomberg was carried out by law firm Hogan Lovells and compliance expert Promontory; the second was written by former New York Times editor Clark Hoyt.
Compliance team
According to today’s news, Bloomberg plans to give more power to its audit committee so it can better deal with ensuring data security at the company. The firm will also create a centralized team to oversee the granting of access to the restricted terminal data available to some parts of the company.
The firm also noted that it regretted the way that data has been handled in the past. In a letter, Bloomberg CEO Daniel Doctoroff said, “It is clear that we should have been more proactive in considering the evolution of customer data issues as well as the relationship between our news and commercial operations.”
The executive followed up, saying “I am proud of how our company responded when we became aware of the fact that we needed to change.” Bloomberg is taking steps toward resolving the issue and healing its relationship with the financial industry. Whether or not it works remains to be seen.
Bloomberg apology
The tone of today’s releases was conciliatory. Bloomberg is admitting fault in this matter, and it is hoping that its new standards are enough to convince investors that its services are more secure than ever. The scandal has damaged the company’s reputation, though today’s reports indicated the problem was not as bad as first thought.
