Ethics

CIS fully subscribes to the Code of Ethics issued by the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). In addition we adhere to the following internal Code and will adopt special requirements specified by clients.

Primary Intelligence Gathering

1. The search for primary intelligence will specifically exclude anything that can be construed as a "trade secret" within the meaning of the US Economic Espionage Act.

2. No primary intelligence gathering (for example on pricing and discounts) that could place clients in breach of the Anti-Trust and Competition laws will be undertaken.

3. Illegal methods will not be used to gain intelligence. Trespass, phone tapping, bugging, hidden cameras, and theft will never be carried out.

4. No staff member or any associated consultant engaged for the purpose of collecting primary intelligence will misrepresent themselves to respondents. The identity of their employer will always be revealed and staff are expressly prohibited from presenting themselves as students, journalists, recruitment consultants, or employees of the competitor organizations being studied.

5. Although the specific purpose of the enquiry may be concealed, at no time will staff tell a direct lie about the objectives of their enquiry.

6. At no time will respondents be provided with any financial or other inducements in exchange for the provision of intelligence.

7. Respondents will not be blackmailed or coerced into providing intelligence.

8. If respondents expressly specify that information provided is confidential, it will not be revealed to the client.

9. No intelligence that could damage the reputation or employment prospects of the respondent will be sought or passed on to clients.

10. The sources of the intelligence provided to clients may be identified generically but the names of respondents will be protected.

11. All data provided by clients will be treated as confidential and will not be disclosed to third parties.

Secondary Intelligence Gathering

1. The search for secondary sources of intelligence will be restricted to those that are deemed as being in the public domain.

2. At no time will staff acquire and report intelligence from documents that have been classified as confidential.

3. The search for secondary sources will be confined to the Internet, physical repositories of documents (such as public, government, and institutional libraries) and other places that can be legitimately accessed by the public.

4. At no time will the search for documents be carried out on competitor's premises.

5. Any confidential documents that are acquired inadvertently will either be returned to the originating company or destroyed.

6. All data presented to clients will conform to appropriate data protection legislation.