Unfinished Business Podcast Episode 6 Part 2: What to Do When Sensitive Business Information Becomes Public

In Part 2 of Unfinished Business Episode 6, Anaita Sarkar and Samantha Brett tackle two mistakes that are impossible to quietly take back: an email containing every employee’s salary sent to the entire organisation, and a personal laser appointment displayed on a yoga studio’s public booking calendar. Their reactions reveal a useful tension between transparent acknowledgement, damage control, owning harmless embarrassment and adding simple checks before sensitive information is shared.

In this post:

How to handle public disclosure of information
The value of owning your mistakes publicly
When acknowledgements might not be the best way forward
Why knowing the difference matters to small businesses

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In Part 1, Anaita and Samantha discuss the value of finding a genuine gap in the market and using customer research to shape a product accordingly, while Part 3 examines how founder-led businesses can scale without losing the human connection that customers value most.

Some mistakes can't be recalled

Digital tools allow small businesses to move quickly, sharing information with stakeholders at the press of a button. But they also make it remarkably easy to share information with the wrong audience, with no easy way to take it back.

The two scenarios discussed in this episode sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. One involves internal salary data going out to the entire employee list. The other involves highly “personal” appointments displaying on a customer-facing booking calendar.

Reality Check #1: sending salaries to the all-staff list

The first caller intended to send an email to an accounts inbox for processing. Instead, their email client’s predictive text input suggested that they send the message to the organisation's all-staff distribution list. On a Friday afternoon. And they pressed send without looking.

The result? Every employee received a full breakdown of what their colleagues were earning. What’s more – because the mistake wasn’t noticed until the following Monday – their employees had an entire weekend to compare salaries.

The cat’s out of the bag on this one. There’s no undo. Everyone knows what everyone else is making. The only way forward is through. But what’s the best way to respond?

When to acknowledge a mistake and when to move past it

Discussing the mistake, the hosts find it hard to agree on what the first caller’s best move might be.

Samantha takes a pragmatic view of the mistake. Her concern is straightforward. Once salary comparisons begin, businesses may find themselves facing ongoing discussions, grievances or demands for pay reviews.

Her recommendation? Minimise the issue.

“You pretend like it never happened and you move on.”

The idea behind this approach is to avoid additional conversations and the complexity they bring to daily operations. Nothing to see here. Let’s get back to work.

Anaita’s instinct takes her in a different direction, pushing for transparency above all.

She suggests openly acknowledging what happened and making space for conversations employees may want to have after seeing the information.

“You've seen all the salaries, and this is how I'm going to handle it.”

There’s a good bit of tension over this topic. On one hand, Samantha is looking to avoid conflicts that could damage morale by preserving the status quo. On the other hand, Anaita is advocating for using the mistake as an opportunity to deepen a connection between employees and the business.

Transparency does not mean you avoid hard conversations

Samantha pushes back on Anaita’s transparency approach with a practical challenge – if every employee wants to discuss their salary, is leadership prepared for those conversations?

“You're going to have your entire team lining up, knocking on your door, saying, I want a salary increase.”

It's a reminder that acknowledgement isn't a complete solution. Sometimes transparency creates productive dialogue. Sometimes it creates additional complexity.

Either way, leaders need to be prepared for the consequences of whichever path they choose.

Prevention starts before you hit send

While the two hosts disagree on the response, they completely agree on avoiding the issue altogether. And the best way to avoid this issue is to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

How? Simple. Just slow down.

Write important emails ahead of time, then sit on them. Re-read the content later. If there is sensitive information in the email, use the sensitivity label. And before you hit send, check the recipient list. Again.

Samantha even shares her own recent story about accidentally sending company financial information to the wrong "Joe" after selecting an incorrect email recipient.

The lesson is simple. Mistakes that may take weeks to recover from can be avoided with a 30 second audit.

Reality Check #2: the laser appointment on public display

The second call is from a yoga studio operator whose scenario follows a similar narrative, but the impact feels a touch lighter.

The caller recounts an experience where they operated their business using an online calendar. This calendar was displayed prominently on their website, allowing clients to view class times and select dates for individual appointments.

This calendar was split between work and personal appointments. Unfortunately, while accepting a booking confirmation for a laser hair removal appointment, the owner accidentally added the appointment to the work calendar. This action displayed the appointment details on their website for the world to see, until someone politely alerted them.

Not every mistake needs a crisis response

Unlike the salary incident in the previous call, the consequences for this business owner were largely limited to embarrassment.

As the caller said:

“At least they know my life admin is up to date.”

In response, both Anaita and Samantha viewed the calendar mishap as something that could potentially be handled with humour, as:

nobody was financially affected.
no business-sensitive information was exposed.
no customer trust issue emerged.
the information was personal but harmless.

In situations like this, where a human makes a relatable mistake, humour may be more effective than a formal apology at reducing tension. As the hosts discuss, a business owner could even turn the incident into a social media story or a light-hearted customer interaction.

Make sure you know what your systems make visible

Beyond the joke lies a useful operational lesson. Modern businesses often connect calendars, booking platforms, customer portals and scheduling tools. This interconnective nature is invaluable but comes at the cost of vigilance.

Sometimes information appears publicly not because of a technical failure, but because a user simply selects the wrong calendar or accepts an appointment into the wrong account.

Before assuming your systems are private, make sure you understand exactly what customers can see. If your website has a calendar for appointments, consider this a reminder to check your privacy settings.

Key takeaways for small businesses

The two calls above help show that not every mistake deserves the same treatment.

The salary-email scenario highlights a useful framework for founders facing similar situations. The actions required will depend on several factors, namely the information involved and the people concerned.

To help decide what action to take, here’s a quick decision-making framework that may help. Please note that this framework is based on the scenarios described by the callers and not the podcasts hosts.

1. What got sent out, and to whom?

Before deciding on a course of action, you need to know what’s happening. Identify:

what information was exposed
how sensitive the information is
if the information is recoverable
the initial recipients
any secondary parties who may have received copies

2. Consider the human impact

Not all information carries the same level of sensitivity. Financial information, customer records and employee details may require more thoughtful handling and could have legal consequences. If the information is sensitive, it may be best to consult with accredited professionals before making your next move.

3. Decide what needs acknowledgement

Once you’ve identified the severity of the information leak, you can decide how best to respond. Will you move past the event, or lean into it? Both options come with benefits and consequences.

On one hand, sometimes silence reduces attention. If you say nothing, you won’t draw attention to it and you’ll avoid evoking the Streisand effect. On the other hand, sometimes a lack of communication creates uncertainty. If there’s nothing to hide, then why aren’t you being proactive and talking about what happened?

The right approach depends on the circumstances.

If the incident is embarrassing but otherwise inconsequential, then drafting a personal acknowledgement may be worth the time. You could also just let the moment pass easily and operate your business as usual. Both options are valid. What matters is that you consider both the resources a response might require and how you want to be seen as a business.

If the incident is more serious in nature, then acknowledging the mistake is a good first step in repairing the damage.

4. Prepare for follow-up conversations

Even when you've decided on a response, you still need to be prepared for stakeholder questions. Having responses prepared in advance helps you give clear responses as required. By giving stakeholders immediate, well-thought-out answers that cover their questions – without needing to postpone or put off a reply – you can make sure that you present your business in the best possible light.

Thanks for reading Part 2

That's it for Part 2 of our Episode 6 recap.

Read Part 1 for Samantha Brett's lessons on product differentiation and international growth, then continue to Part 3 for Fairina Cheng's Growth Hotline challenge on scaling a bespoke business without sacrificing personal service.

To hear the full debate and both Reality Check scenarios, tune into Episode 6 of Unfinished Business on the following platforms: