confidentialitycon‧fi‧den‧ti‧al‧i‧ty /ˌkɒnfədenʃiˈæləti $ ˌkɑːn-/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] 
The relationship between attorney and client is based on confidentiality.breach of confidentiality (=when someone gives away information they have promised to keep secret) It’s a breach of confidentiality for a priest to reveal what someone has said in the confessional.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Alexander declined to comment, citing attorney--client confidentiality.
- Data encryption ensures the privacy and confidentiality of email messages.
- Researchers should always be able to guarantee complete confidentiality for their subjects.
- The health clinic has again been caught violating patient confidentiality.
- You doctor should not have told your parents about the abortion -- that was a blatant breach of confidentiality.
- Alexander declined comment, citing attorney-client confidentiality.
- But congressional investigators said bank claims of confidentiality kept them from establishing precisely how much profit banks are reaping from the surcharges.
- Information memoranda should not be sent to interested parties until a signed confidentiality letter has been received.
- Please forward the profile to your client, together with the attached confidentiality letter.
- Short confidentiality clauses in standard conditions are really only precautionary measures to be relied upon in an emergency.
- The confidentiality letter should cover both the memorandum and also any additional information which might be subsequently released.
- The appropriate method will depend on the business being sold, the confidentiality required, and the anticipated demand from purchasers.
- The purchaser should be prepared to sign a target's confidentiality undertaking.
Longman Language Activatorto not tell other people about a secret
to not tell someone about something: · I told you not to tell anyone!· 'Who's that letter from?' 'I'm not telling you.'not tell somebody what/how/why etc: · Henry wouldn't tell me what the surprise was.· Penny laughed, but she wouldn't tell me why.not tell about: · Vinny didn't tell the police about his visit to Mahoney's apartment.· You'd better not tell Elizabeth about this.not tell of: · Margaret had not yet told her sons of her planned engagement.not tell (that): · Carl felt I'd been deceiving him all these years by not telling him I was gay.without telling somebody: · I was annoyed that he'd left without telling me.
to not tell other people something, because you want it to remain secret: · They wanted to keep their relationship secret for as long as possible.· The graves were covered up in a deliberate attempt to keep the killings secret.· So you've been keeping it secret all this time?keep sth secret from: · Mary kept her illness secret, even from family members.
someone who can keep a secret will not tell your secrets to other people, so you can trust them with secret information: · Can you keep a secret?· 'Can I trust you?' 'I'm honest, and I can keep a secret'.
to deliberately not talk about something in public, especially something you are ashamed or embarrassed about: · Parotti had threatened to expose the illegal arrangements unless he was paid $50,000 to keep quiet. · Some people disagree with what the government is doing, but they keep quiet for fear of reprisals.keep quiet about: · We used to keep quiet about some of the things that went on in the prison.keep quiet over: · I think they should have kept quiet over that.keep something quiet (=keep something secret): · The minister denied that the case had been kept quiet or hidden.keep somebody quiet (=do something to stop someone telling a secret): · She'd been brutally murdered to keep her quiet.
to deliberately not tell someone about something, especially because you think they would be upset if they knew the truth: · Edward never told anyone about his illness. He even tried to keep it from his wife.· The president has a reputation for keeping key decisions from even his closest aides.· She tried in every way to keep the truth from her parents.
to not allow people to know about something that has been officially planned or decided: be kept under wraps: · It's been suggested the report was kept under wraps to avoid controversy.· Ford's new range of cars is being kept firmly under wraps until the Geneva auto show.
the ability to judge when you should or should not tell people things that you know about someone or something: · Absolute discretion is required from everyone working for the Royal Family.leave something to somebody's discretion: · I leave it to your discretion as to whether you should tell your colleagues.show/exercise discretion: · TV commentators have shown great discretion, glossing over the problems in her personal life. · Can junior managers be trusted to exercise discretion when making decisions?be the (very) soul of discretion (=be the sort of person who will never tell something that should be kept secret): · You can tell Martin anything -- he's the very soul of discretion.
when what someone does or says is kept very secret, so that only a few people know about it: · There is a great deal of secrecy within the organization.· Why all the secrecy? You've got nothing to be ashamed of.utmost secrecy: · Our commanding officer emphasized the need to maintain the utmost secrecy about the operation at all times.swear somebody to secrecy (=make someone promise that they will not tell other people a secret): · Anna swore me to secrecy on the subject of her family until her book came out.a veil/shroud/cloak of secrecy: · The gunmen tracked down their target, despite the shroud of secrecy surrounding his whereabouts.
the trust that exists between people who share secrets, especially between a professional person such as a doctor or lawyer and someone who gives them private advice: · Alexander declined to comment, citing attorney--client confidentiality.· Researchers should always be able to guarantee complete confidentiality for their subjects.· Data encryption ensures the privacy and confidentiality of email messages.breach/violate confidentiality (=to break confidentiality by telling someone a secret): · The health clinic has again been caught violating patient confidentiality.breach of confidentiality: · You doctor should not have told your parents about the abortion -- that was a blatant breach of confidentiality.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
(=when someone gives away information they have promised to keep secret) It’s a breach of confidentiality for a priest to reveal what someone has said in the confessional.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE It’s a breach of confidentiality for a priest to reveal what someone has said in the confessional.· The suggestion that we should publish the amount paid for each company raises difficult problems of commercial confidentiality.· All that is concealed beneath a cloak of commercial confidentiality.
· Mark Bechard was no secret to mental-health workers in his home state of Maine, though patient confidentiality shrouds his troubled past.· Asked about how issues involving patient confidentiality were best dealt with, one doctor replied: below.· And a new, and very serious question, has been raised concerning patient confidentiality.
NOUN· When presented with the draft confidentiality agreement, the purchaser should ensure that there are adequate exemptions to the confidentiality obligation.· It is normally circulated under covering letter and will incorporate a confidentiality agreement.· Finally, I annex by way of an Appendix a schedule of companies who have signed the confidentiality agreement and their status.· If a separate confidentiality agreement has not been signed an appropriate undertaking can be embodied in the heads.· In order to ensure prompt despatch of the Information memorandum to you please fax the signed confidentiality agreement to me on.· It may be that the purchaser signed a confidentiality agreement at the outset of negotiations.
· The purchaser should be prepared to sign a target's confidentiality undertaking.· The vendor is likely to agree to the target's providing this information only if the purchaser enters into a confidentiality undertaking.
VERB· Faceless, unqualified reviewers define our work, remove our colleagues from panels and routinely breach confidentiality.
· Alexander declined comment, citing attorney-client confidentiality.· A spokesman for Morgan Grenfell in London declined any comment on the allegations contained in the Codelco suit, citing client confidentiality.· Family services officials refused Sunday to comment on the incident, citing state confidentiality laws that preclude them from discussing specific cases.
· In such situations we take appropriate measures to ensure that strict confidentiality is maintained in all respects.· This is often done through an independent third party, such as a debt collecting agency, to ensure confidentiality.· Care must be taken to ensure that any specific confidentiality concerns of the client are addressed.
· Firstly there are undertakings to maintain the confidentiality of business secrets and not to use them except for limited purposes.· Inform and support relatives as appropriate. Maintain professional confidentiality.
WORD FAMILYnounconfidenceconfidantconfidentialityadjectiveconfidentconfidentialadverbconfidentlyconfidentiallyverbconfide
a situation in which you trust someone not to tell secret or private information to anyone else: The relationship between attorney and client is based on confidentiality.breach of confidentiality (=when someone gives away information they have promised to keep secret) It’s a breach of confidentiality for a priest to reveal what someone has said in the confessional.