HR Records on network

Normally the Administrator can set permissions to only allow the select few people that need access to those folders to view them. In addition you can set it where a person can either read, or read and write access. But you will always need accessbecause you are the Administrator, not because you want to see whats there. Your manager may request that you have some kind of agreement that you'll keep the info confediential. Just tell him thats how it is.

Good Luck

How, exactly, do your friends' HR Depts share personnel records between them? Sneaker-net? Or does the department consist of 1 person?

The CEO's request is valid and can be implemented with ease...simply store the records in a folder to which only the HR group has access (but since you said the CEO wants nobody to have access, simply define the Everyone group to have No Access -- no one, not even the HR dept or the CEO would be able to access the records). Yes, you could, as the admin, take ownership of the folder and give yourself permissions, but then, why would you want to do that?

Remember, just because you're the "supposed" admin does NOT mean you should have access to ALL files on the network. Think of it like this, why should you have access to other employees personnel records? As an employee, I would not want our admin to have access to my salary or other personal information stored in my record.

I am the PC Administrator for our HR Department and we have a couple of very high classified information that we still need to share. I do it two ways. The Access Databases are in secured folders (I know, we are paranoid about even our Network Admins seeing it) and we password protect the actual file. I do not think that we have any hackers behind our firewall.
The really secure ones are shared (File and print shared) and password protected at both the shared level and the database as well.I know that neither of these are %100 fool proof but we are able to get what we need done.
The final big database that we are paranoid about remains on one system and will not be accessed or shared through our server at all.

If this were a Netware server then there would be a way for you to set access restrictions on all accounts, including the admin, so that only HR and the CEO could read the contents of the directory or see that the directory was there.

Yet, I would assume that you have an NT or 2000 network and while you could set restrictions on the folder you would be able to revoke them by taking ownership.

As for the need to have access to make repairs or maintain the directory in question, there are ways around that problem even if the admin account has no access, you just have to be creative and think about it a bit. Give an HR person a few lessons and have the HR person take responsibility for the well being of that directory or the admin of the HR folder. If there were a problem that person couldn't handle, you could help under the watchfull eye of the HR person to make sure you didn't take a peek at the information they were worried about.

Situation :
1) CEO don't trust you.
2) CEO is no NT expert. *or he wouldn't ask you if administrator can access the files...of course we can! If not how the hell is we going to maintain the network. Suggest him to try asking the government whetherthey know how much he earn per month.*
3) You knows about the 'ownership' thing. And do you know that if you don't know about this...this problem wouldn't have arised.
4) He knows nothing about the 'ownership' thing...unless you told him about that.

Solution : Smoke him out. *in another words is to bluff him.*

Set the permission to be only accessed by him and the HR department. Then confidently tell him that even you cannot access the folders. Then show him using Window Explorer. Forgetall about the ownership thing. Most importantly is that you are man of integrity...and it also doesn't make a difference to where he place his file if you are not trustworthy. *Don't forget you are the hired as an Administrator*

Sometimes we haveto be flexible and tell some 'white' lies to prevent our hair from growing white. I did that to my company of over 100 users and we live 'happily' in 'trust' ever after. *Till now they still thinks that administrator cannot access their files.* (^o^)

5mm.

Win2K, as you know, provides EFS. You can set who will access those file. However, the administrator will ultimately have the the rights to access those files (it may be difficult to do, but it is possible.)

I recommend using a third party incription tool. That way the file is stored and transfered encrypted. It is decrypted by the local machine, HR in this case.

I have had alot of luck with PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). They have a disk encryption tool built into the package. Older version are available as open source; ver 7.0 is available for purchase from Network Assoc.

The HR department could set a Pre-Shared Key and install it with their PGP software. That would allow all of them access without letting even the administrator have access to them. -- of course, anyone physically accessing HR computers would be able to read the files as well.

Good luck

I see the dilemma. However, if the CEO insists on not having the records on the network, at the very least, program your backup system to backup those files on the server.
The HR people can also work with passwords on their files, saved to the network, list the passwords for the files and sealed in an enveloppe in a safe place.
Microsoft Backoffice can supply some answers for the security of these particular files.
as well as Windows 2000.
Check with your vendor on security products

Goodluck

The CEO apparently either does not trust anyone, is ignorant of customary IT practices and policies (customary at other businesses, that is), is a control freak, or doesn't have the time or energy to set up business policies and procedures for HR that would allow him to entrust the legal and ethical responsibilities to others.

His apparent folly in doing this is not the issue. He is entrusted with ultimate power within the corporate structure to require IT to do this, and he also has the ultimate responsibility for the decision.

IT could create a directory with rights of access restricted to the CEO and the admin. Then, the next step would be up to the IT department. The measures taken could range from something as simple as zipping the files with password protection, to writing a home-brewed access tool that would encrypt the files, to buying and installing an industrial-strength commercial encryption tool. In any event, the CEO would be the sole possessor of the password(s), and there would still be the paper archives in the event that the files were lost due to disc corruption or any other catastrophic event.

The files would have to be backed up to tapes separate from those used to back up the server as a whole since the files could be restored to non-secured directories by the possessor of the tapes. The tapes, therefore, should be given to the CEO. This would be politically important since it absolves IT from any lingering responsibility for the integrityof the files and their recovery.

What is important is that any user, whether it is the CEO or a data clerk, needs to be told that when special privileges are granted to him and when IT is consciously kept out of the loop, the entire responsibility for the maintenance and security of data becomes his. This is not just job insurance, it is common sense.

You might as well be running Windoze.

I'm running a Novell shop out here. I can restrict access to any directory or file I choose based on group memberships, physical location on the network, IP address, MAC address and right down to the user him or herself.

If you don't already know how to do this, then you shouldn't be a network administrator. It can be accomplished with WindowsNT, UNIX, Linux, BSD and my baby Netware.

Without having any clear indication of what NOS you're running,I can't even begin to tell you how I'd solve your problem in your particular situation.

Now, about you not having access? That's actually doable. Just create a location on the server with granular permissions that allow someone, other than yourself, to gain access. Again, if you can't figure this out, or even know how to do it in theory, then you need to be in another line or work.

However, if you run a tape backup like ArcServe, you will need at leat one ID on the network that can access all files in order to back them up. Other than desiring some sort of disaster recovery plan (backing them up) there's really no other reason to place sensitive materials on the network.

As far as backing them up, just buy your boss a CD burner, JAZ drive, Ditto drive any kind of external media drive and teach him how to use it to back up those sensitive files. Lock them in a fireproof safe and your job is done.

Oh, and you need to establish, and do so immediately, that IT policy isNOT dictated by management. They can pay the bills and refuse to pay the bills, but as far as HOW a network is run...that's your job, pal. If you can't get that authority for what you're surely going to be held responsible, then you need to leave and work somewhere else.

-Jake

As many have pointed out, since you are the person who sets the access-rights, trying to deny you access using access-rights is futile.

But I am surprised no-one has mentioned that, as admin, you MUST have access to the files in order to backup and restore them.

The integrity of the company's data should be your primary concern. Privacy is also important, but is of no value if the data has been lost.

From this, it follows easily that the
only way to keep contents truly secret is to encrypt. This ensures privacy, without compromising integrity.

Before encrypting filesystems and encrypting applications came along, though, trusting the admin used to be the only alternative, and in fact this still works for us.

Some admins seem to take it as an insult if this trust is withheld, but to me it is a matter of company policy, which is properly the concern of the boss. Work with him/her to develop that trust, rather than shoving admin-rights in their face, as some here havesuggested.

Storing the files "off the network", although simple and therefore popular, is ill-advised IMO, as the HR dept. (or whoever) are probably not as experienced and committed in backup, off-site storage, disaster recovery etc. as you are.
If your server is the best protected, best backed-up resource in the company (as it ought to be), then better to have critical data on that server than on (say) a local hard disk or on a floppy in the filing cabinet. How thief-proof and how crash-proof and how fire-proof are those anyway ?

If you encrypt, there is still a education issue in HR managing the keys, of course. Negotiation and co-operation skills come in to play here.

A way to solve this problem is by incorporating a document management system.
Security and access is controlled within the
document management system itself and not by NT Security. The CEO will have a manager user interface to set access controls.

I had the same problem at a small (25-people) organization I worked for. I was hired to re-do the organization's infrastructure from the ground up. The President and the HR Director wanted to have shared folders that only they and their assistantshad access to, and folders that they alone had access to. I told them that I would always have administrative access to the folders, but that 1) I had no interest in looking at their files, and 2) they can always password protect the documents (which were all in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access). Once I showed them how to password protect their documents, they were very pleased with the results. Keep in mind though, if your passwords are lost or forgotten, it is nearly impossible to recoverthe document (there are password hacking programs, but they aren't always successful).

I hope this helps!

First of all I hate morons and second I hate the HR dept even more. It inflames me to see any power mad idiot cause problems for anyone most especially IT folks. If the HR Nazis need their records on the network then let it be known that they are a guest on the network and not the network god, the latter is your title. They are being given a privilege not exercising a god given constitutional right. Being a CEO is spelled CEO not GOD. Ask the clowns if accounting has accounting information removed from the dept. Then go right down the line and find out just how many depts both share confidential information ( simply by way of sheer necessity ) and how many other dept heads are handcuffed just as you are. It's time for the rest of the children to grow up. IT was the new kid on the block and as I now say that was the last century. This century IT is just one pee in the pod. We have our unique power and every other dept has their's. It's time to play lets make a dope deal. Who is the first dope who is going to give up the power they need to run their dept? IT wont, that is the deal.

First of all just placing files on the network the sysadmin will have access dot period. So you can use encryption or a document management program such as GroupWise. The only other alternative would be if you have windows 95 or above on the workstations then you simply set two or more workstations up as a mini peer to peer network and they have shared access to the files that are on the HR dept's workstation.
Out side of that, telling a lie to protect yourself from a moron is not the answer. Getting rid of the morons is the objective and sometimes it takes a new job to accomplish that. Tell the CEO to put a Banana peel in his nut sake.

I would first explain to the CEO or whomever, ALL files belong on the server so they can be backed up... If they do not want that, then simply tell him you are no long responsible for HR stuff....

As far as security, depending on the type of files you could simple apply passwords to those files, I.E. Word or Excel... Although no lock is complete and safe he or she will have to have some trust in their Admin / IT folks....

I have the same problem and gave them the option of either trustingme and using file passwords or hoping their hard drive NEVER fails them... Of course we KNOW windows on a work station can be used to protect that stuff - ha ha...

Good Luck

There`s no such thing as total security.
PGP is a good option but I would personally encrypt the records myself.A simple self created unique code could look something like this.
Letter A = Add 3 letters now becomes letter D
Letter B = Minus 3 letters now becomes letter
Y.
Letter C = Add 3 now = F this is just a simple idea but can be adjusted to meet your own recquirements (or your CEO`s!)

The Boss says do it, SO DO IT!!!
That is if you have a Win2k Network. In windows 2000 you can easily fulfill your bosses dream. Just set up a folder on the network for him (Make sure your file system is NTFS). Give only the boss rights to the folder, remove Read and Filescan abilities from everyone. Now there is only one little problem left, you can still read his personal files. To handle that problem have your boss copy the files into the folder and then have him right click on the folder and select encrypt the folder. Voila, now he has a encrypted folder that only he can get into. The Administrator can only see the folder but he cannot look into it.

Good Luck,

Mike

We have a very similar issue in our firm. We have addressed the issue on several levels. First, you will want to use a securable networking OS like Windows NT or Novell. We actually have both in house. With their security features, it is possibleto lock users out of specific folders or files. We have created a couple of groups of users and have assigned access rights to the groups, minimizing admin time.

The second layer that we use is within some of our applications. Our tax and accounting software has user logins. Most of our users have no password and are allowed to access all but a portion of the data associated with the app. A few key users have access to all of the data - like payroll. Those users have a different rights config within the application and have a password to the app. As an added twist, the net admin doesn't have full access to the accounting software - to protect against accessing payroll info. If changes need to be made in the accounting software, the firm president has to log in to let the admin (me) do the work.

Lastly, we use worksheet level passwords with some of our Word & Excel files.

I trust everyone at your company SHREDS all the trash right?

Without too many specifics on your system you have received different solutions. I'll just add some thoughts:

- create written IT policies covering all aspects of your work as NetAdmin with definitive boundaries of responsibility & accountability for you & any NetAdmin (even mgmt!).

- use Auditing in addition to rights assignments.

- restricting access by MAC address or IP(IPX) address is best. Even with rights, if you arenot logged in at the "right" PC, you're not getting access.

- create 2 accounts for yourself - 1 as a "superuser" to handle ALL aspects of the network (you can restrict this by network address as well) and a 2nd acct that allows you to do everything else you need to do.

These items should be enough to calm the CEO :)

Also remember that Mgmt types are much easier "managed" by IT people when you talk numbers to them. For instance, you'll need 2 backup systems to handle the sensitive stuff - costs $$$. Additional precautions in storing the tapes - costs $$$. Restore time will take longer - costs $$$...Get the idea?

I am the Network Administrator where I work and I had the same problem. What I did was created three drives on the server. One drive for Admin, one for Employees and one for HR. Put all of the personal files in the HR drive because they are the only ones who will need to see it.

Hope it falls

Normally it is kept on the servers and I myself have had the same problem within my organization where everything is "propietary information". I had to explain, that I am not in the business of snooping into anyone's records. Finally, we were ableto convince people by stating the simple truth: Your machine is not backed up, if it crashes so does all of your information. If you put it on the server, the likely hood that you will lose it is slim because it is backed up every night.

If youneed a hand with the dicussion, email me at pwells@telprotech.com.

Well, this doesn't really help in your server security issue, but this is how I did it.

I outsourced the server part to a co-locator. The vendor that performed the scanning operation of our 11,000 personnel files (roughly 1.5 million pages) manages the co-locator. We use 128bit, SSL, site PW and individual access PW to ensure privacy.

Then, I had a website created to handle individual security access to files. I used our PeopleSoft data to export to the web server to grant access based on our business rules. I was able to grant automatic and job specific access to the files to the supervisor, manager, director and VP level. I then created 2 special access levels for HR and our Fleet folks which I manage personally.

The way it's setup, no one has any access to private personnel files that could be viewed as inappropriate.

Ken Hower
HRIS Manager

I have been an administrator fo two different financial institution over the past four years. All records are kept on the network where access can be controlled to departments or individuals. If anyone thinks that security has been comprimised I am contacted and all security is changed for those individuals, departments, and containers holding the data. If the data is kept on a single workstation and something happens to the hardware or software and the data can not be accessed then the department has a long road ahead to reconstruct the data on a new machine ( time is money ).
Anyone with access to this single workstation depending on the operating system will have access at will if they want to. Even with a more secure OS if anyone has seen what the user name and password is then they have free access to anything on that station.
The network with all it's security features and backup redundancy is always the best place to store your data and records of any kind bar none.

We moved our accounting s/w (including payroll) from a single PC to a server so that data could be shared, our CEO also wanted to limit access. Here is what we did for security: First, we set directory permissions. Second, the client sofware (this was a windows based software) was only loaded on the PC's of people who needed the software, and the CEO kept all of the copies of the install disks. Third, the Accounting software was password protected. In this environment to gain access you have to:
1. Know an authorized users network login (or be an admin)
2. Physically go into an authorized users office.
3. Know the users Application password.
This appears to be a pretty secure setup and limits the ability of the admin to gain access.

Gee, Mike, you're not only abrasive and obnoxious but overtly sexist as well.

Just as a point of clarity from a retired
healthcare provider, 'gonads' is a generic medical term applying to those structures that produce reproductive cells (i.e. both testicles and ovaries are gonads). Therefore, it is quite possible that the one with the most progesterone or estrogen might ultimately win, not just the one who appears most testosterone-poisoned.

That having been said, I would only offer the thought that I understand your concern about access to your personnel records. If they, in any way, reflect the person you've tried to be in this discussion, that would be immensely concerning to a potential employer.

paul

All,

I have been reading the comments by other people on this post and the general consensus is to take a leap of faith and TRUST administrators. One Post had a good point by making the administrator sign a confendial agreement.

The best practice is to give access to all appropriate staff (this may include administrator), but then the directory should be audited and the audit logs should be reviewed by a Security officer (anyone else but the administrators) the log should not even be accessible by the administrator. This would protect the administrator as well.

Anywayz..good luck.

Tristan Bui CISA

I've followed this thread with interest and wanted to just offer a few (okay, maybe more than a few...) thoughts from the "other" side.

First of all, placing confidential records on a network is almost universal among large companies and widely variable among medium and small companies. "Personnel records" is a broad category and probably includes many data elements that are already on the network. Unless you're doing manual payroll calculation, your social security number, salary, tax withholding, number of dependents, health insurance carrier, home address, financial institution, child support orders,etc. are already ON the network.

So the elements of concern are probably things like reprimands, evaluations and other legal and administrative matters. Very likely, those items already exist on the network as well although perhaps not neatly collected in a file with your name on it. I've seen very few hand-written or manually-typed reprimands and if it was produced by a word-processing program, it's probably still on the network somewhere.

So I think the fact we are dealing with HR records obscures the main point. Although I'm hesitant to agree too completely with mike, it really IS a question about a power strugglerather than whether a particular set of records "belong on the network".

paul

Now from the CEO perspective:
What I can tell you is that a CEO position is a curious thing. On the one hand, you are the boss, but on the other, you are at the bottom of a very large funnel when everything falls apart. Unlike the network admin, for whom the most likely consequence of a bad decision is simply termination of employment, for a CEO it could involve an endless stream of lawsuits in which he is personally named as a defendent. He may also have a personal financial stake in the company. Because of this difference in risk profile, a CEO must not allow a network administrator to take his network hostage and some of the posts in this discussion have come close to advocating that.

Unfortunately, that reflects real life. I can't tell you how many times I've heard an arrogant and smug net admin tell someone "I can't be fired because only I have the passwords to all the routers and servers". Trust me on this, you can and you will and in the near future you can probably expect to face criminal sanctions as well as CEOs talk with each other and discover they don't have to put up with this kind of behavior and attitude. I certainly won't and I've done my time as an IT groundling.
That having been said, my response to the original post in this thread would be to have a frank and fully informed discussion with the CEO about the pros and cons of what he wants to do. Lay out all the alternatives (encryption, rights/permissions, physical segregation, whatever) and tryto come to an agreement. Whatever you do, and this is the take-home point in this whole message, DO NOT BE DISHONEST. If you do, it WILL come back to haunt you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it WILL come back to haunt you.
But recognize that it IS his/her decision and if the decision is not palatable to you, it is probably unreasonable to expect the CEO to commit hari-kari to appease you.

paul

I was working in community law doing legal representation at the time. it was poverty law and open to ALL comers with a legitimate case irrespective of what they had done to others. If you help a woman on the run from an extremely violent ex you become (by default) a target.(for helping) So does your family.

Also you get some people with unreasonable expections of what can be done for them coming in - they get reaaaaally pissed off when you explain - sorry no. The third sort you have to worry about are the one's that become obsessed cos you treated them like a human being - with dignity (something you perhaps might want to think about applying to people you don't know)and fixed their problems ad no-ones done that before. They want to be best friends forever.

Yes its extreme and I haven't done this sort of work for about 2 years but old clients still find me even after a number of consulting short-term jobs (and even at the jobs) The person you work with may not feel confident enough to tell you their past history (especially given your somewhat presumptious statements)but they may have had trouble in the past, a violent ex etc etc and need to be security conscious

Privacy of your details is a right not privilege. And its the way it should be.

Cheers

I am a former Implementation consultant for a large HR/Payroll company. Most of my customers needed to store massive HR/Payroll records (500+ employees) on their servers. The only way to really restrict access is to have an HR/Payroll product that will only allow someone to access it's database via the software interface. If the software has some level of security built in (most do) you can only log into the application and or modify programs based on your security profile(assuming you have thenetwork rights).

If you do not have the above mentioned type of product, you can put the data on a seperate server, but you have to grant the NW admin access for network maintenance (back-ups, new users, etc).

In summary. Nothing is totally secure unless the server/file locations have someway of limiting a users access, be it via the application or network settings.

I once had an issue similar to this and the only way it can be done is if the data is held within a database that has it's own security (that locks/passwords the database) sure it can be done...but all administration of the data and application belongs to the users in HR. Absolve yourself of any responsibility in whole or in part for corruption or restoration (short of a backup done to your tapes at night)

Lyndon
Asst. Dir. MIS

You could use something like PGPDisk to create an encrypted virtual disk, plus a utility they can use to upload records without reference to you. That way you don't need to know the pass phrase, and the data is secure when not being used. Of course there is a window of vulnerability to snoopers when they are using the disc so perhaps they need a separate firewalled subnetwork.

It's a question of how much security is needed. Perhaps you should clarify with them how much security is needed. Generally speaking all you can do is stop the casual intruder but those who really want to get the information will do so.

Hope this helps
Alex K

We ran out of thread space so I must respond here.

You are truly a legend in your own mind. As to your comment ->Gee, Mike, you're not only abrasive and obnoxious but overtly sexist as well. Really do you think so, gosh your making me blush, that's the dearest sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, thank you.

And now lets look at your completely self-righteous comment that is in it's self blatantly hypocritical and self serving -> Therefore, it is quite possible that the one with themost progesterone or estrogen might ultimately win, not just the one who appears * most testosterone-poisoned. * , Thanks for making my work easy you moron. Now that I've had my fun I will leave this discussion by invoking Murphy's law. Never argue with a fool, if for no other reason a mere passerby would not be able to distinguish the difference. Yes, YOU are the fool. My only mistake was to engage in an intellectual discussion with mental midgets who at best can only make double standard comments and point out just how big of an idiot you are.

By the way, are you gay or just a female?

I believe his boss asked him to do something, secure personnel records on the network. He can (1) act like he doesn't know whaty to do. (2) Act like you sugggest and everyone will think he doesn't know what to do or (3) Do what is asked of him and realize that personnel records are none of his business. I trust nobody with my personal information and you have proven that by your rediculous statements. It has nothing to do with a power struggle since he has no authority over the company. HE LOSES. His job is to SERVICE the CUSTOMER, primarily HIS BOSS.

But then again you are the final authority on tact and diplomacy?!?

What type of network are you on? If it is anything other than Windows 2000, then you will not be able to restrict access to yourself (the admin). If it were Win2K, then you could create a Sub-domain and allocate the CEO as the Admin of the sub-domain. This would satisfy him.

If you are not on Windows 2000, tell him that he may be the CEO, but when it comes to the network, you are the most powerful user. Offer to sign a confidentiality statement. This will show that you understand his point and you respect his will.

I had a similar situation where the HR person did not agree to keep her stuff on the network. She was so concerned about security that she kept all data on her pc. She never backed it up and left her office with her pc logged in nearly every day. And called me to come fix her pc whenever it had problems and left me or another IT person unattended at her pc. Also sitting on her chair were the complete printouts of the whole staffs salaries. Some of these CEO type people here the buzz of security but never fully understand it.

I think I would in this case have a written proposal for your CEO stating what he needs to purchase his own server in his own domain and a list of his responsiblities if no IT person is to be involved (backups, upgrades, service packs, security, etc). Good luck!

Dawn

Ask your CEO if he would like you to print up
all his personal information and you transfer it to 40 point type and place it all over his circle of influence. Then explain what "Hackers" do on the internet and
see how he feels about that. Nuff Said?

You could use PGP or some encryption tools. See securityportal.com

I've been there along time ago and my comment was that my word is your assurance that I won't try to find out information I am not requested to view.

I have at a recent employer seen admins read the president's email and my own while as was also and admin. They eventually used such information against others in the company. Many lost their jobs. I myself quit.

Find place where you are trusted and be trust worthy. Sooner or later you'll be much happier.

John C. Day
NT Admin
High Speed Access, Inc.

I dont know how this can be done if the IS
Admin can't access these records since he has
to have administering rights to the directory
anyway. You may need to have a talk with
your CEO about this and explain that to be
able to set up and/or access rights to these
files, you need to be able to access them as
well. I can understand the rationale behind
putting this stuff on the server to safeguard
against PC crashes, etc. and we've developed
something quite similar at my job.

Banner-

Part I

Please be very careful in how you handle this situation. It can blow up in your face, but is actually a great opportunity for you to grow in your company. It would appear to me that your company is young and/or small, and thisis a new step for all of you involved - be you CEO or HR or admin.

First, we should all agree that personnel information is not for the whole world to see. If at all possible, this information should be secure. I certainly don't advertise my personal information! Even if I trusted everyone within earshot, it's just not important for them to know.

Let me also state that everything is possible - for a price.

If your CEO wishes, you can spend a lot of time [time = money] working only on the security features he wants, or you can find a good balance. There have been a lot of good suggestions in this forum [even though you may have to wade through a lot of the thrown about muck to find them]. You should meet with your CEO to discuss this in much more depth.

But before you do, get some more ducks in a row. Do some research on the ideas that have been given to you. Find out what costs are involved with each and every one. Also explain that there will need to be some training of non IT people no matter what he decides. [And it is his decision, he's the CEO.]

While I agree that the pool of people that have access to much of the information kept by a company (i.e. Personnel, P&L...etc).
It is not possable to secure that from people like us (System Admins, DBA's).
I would suggest that you talk to your boss about it and let them know that while you have access. That does not mean that you will use it. This is the very reason that we are trusted within an organization.

-Rich
DBA

When this issue came up was this -
"Your overlooking one important fact. And that's as the Network Administrator, I automatically get full access to everything on the network. And, If you have problem trusting me with that level of responsibility, you should also consider the fact I've had that level of access since I started here, and I've kept the several confidential items that I've seen in the course of my daily duties confidential. That includes employees who have resumes & cover letters on thier hard disks, and those trying to resend a misaddressed email to thier job headhunters, and all the folks who I was informed of their termination before they themselves were. You hired me to do my job, I'm doing it. Now, is there anything elseI can explain for you?"

That reality check stopped him cold. And he later gave me a raise!