options to care providers or organizations that may be able to provide support. Avoid collecting substantive information concerning any serious human rights violations suffered as this could harm the individual as well as violate his or her rights. 2.1.3 Confidentiality The principle of confidentiality concerns the requirement that practitioners need to protect information they gather on serious human rights violations. Conditions of confidentiality are often essential to building a trusting relationship with the victim or witness. There are, however, limits to the principle of confidentiality and these must be clearly explained to the victim or witness.15 In particular, unofficial investigators should: 1. Check that everyone on the team understands and applies the agreed confidentiality measures established for the documentation exercise. 2. Ensure information protection measures are in place for: • All information that may disclose the identity of the victim or witness. • Any information or account that is provided by a victim or witness. • Information about measures put in place to protect the victims and witnesses and information about referrals to professional assistance (see next section). 3. Use information protection measures, including: • Coded language and passwords to anonymize the account/information. • Security measures to safely store information regarding the identity of the source of the information separately from their witness account or evidence. • Redacted personal information such as name, address, age or family relations. 4. Fully and clearly explain to victims or witnesses the conditions and limits of confidentiality. This includes: 15 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, 47 (2014). 28