More cringe-inducing madness from the mass translation market
Today I was browsing online translation workplace Proz.com when I stumbled upon this question asked in the "Kudoz" terminology forum.
The question is an interesting one (how to translate "cascader" into English).
What is cringe-inducing, however, is the disturbing lack of concern for the confidentiality of customer documents. This is clearly an internal document and one I, personally, would consider potentially sensitive given the recent history of the company concerned (Société Générale).
For the second time this week I feel compelled to mention a (potentially grave) disservice to the translation client - one that also raises a number of questions as to what went wrong.
Is SGCIB aware that a substantial excerpt of an internal document has been published on a website that is both accessible to the general public and Google-able? Is there a middleman involved? If so, what instructions (if any) were given to the middleman? Is there a confidentiality agreement? What instructions, if any, did the middleman pass on to the outsourcer?
Labels: confidentiality, Société Générale, translation, translation agency
posted by Sara @ 3/06/2008
2 comments
links to this post
2 Comments:
Sara,
Thanks for your excellent post! I want to let you know ProZ.com maintains a set of site rules which addresses the need for client confidentiality you describe. The specific guideline is available at http://www.proz.com/siterules/kudoz_asking/2.10#2.10.
As per our policy, the post you cited has been removed until it can be edited by the original person who posted it.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Andre Pellet
COO
ProZ.com
Dear Andre,
Thanks for your comment. It is good to know that Proz.com has such a rule. The question is how to get users to read and follow it!
To my mind, this situation illustrates the kind of "perfect storm" that often comes up in so-called mass-market translation transactions.
First, you have a high-volume or "bulk" agency that negotiates a contract with the end customer often on pricing (this is the case at least when the end customer is a corporation with centralized purchasing, where the buyer, not the user of the services, does the negotiating).
You then have the agency, which, in order to meet demand and stay within their margins, outsources to a freelancer in a database somewhere without performing the necessary quality controls or giving the outsourcer any guidelines for the project. In many cases it all happens by email and an actual conversation between middleman and outsourcer (even by phone) never happens.
Last but not least, at the bottom of the food chain, you have the (undoubtedly well-intentioned) outsourcer, who is possibly young and inexperienced, and who isn't necessarily aware of professional practices like confidentiality.
I realize that Proz is just a marketplace, but maybe having some more *visible* outsourcer and customer education on the website could help minimize this kind of thing...
Thanks again for your contribution.
Regards,
Sara
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home