What standard of care must Even Hotels use to protect Confidential Information?
Even_Hotels Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Hotel shall use commercially reasonable care and discretion to avoid unauthorised use, disclosure, publication, or dissemination of Confidential Information (which shall be no less than the standard of care used by Hotel to protect its Confidential Information of a similar nature).
Licensee shall be responsible for ensuring adequate security and backup procedures to avoid unauthorized access to, use of, or inadvertent loss of data and shall, in its discretion, determine appropriate security, which shall be no less than the standard of care in the industry.
Hotel will ensure all Designated Users comply with industry best practices to implement secure passwords, regularly change such passwords, and protect the security and privacy of their user logins and the PMS Data.
Hotel shall be solely responsible for any and all Claims and Losses (as each such term is defined below) relating to an unauthorized third party access to the PMS Solution and/or PMS Data that results or arises out of breach of the foregoing.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 99–438)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Even Hotels' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the hotel must use commercially reasonable care and discretion to avoid unauthorized use, disclosure, publication, or dissemination of Confidential Information. This standard must be no less than the standard of care used by the hotel to protect its own confidential information of a similar nature. This means Even Hotels franchisees must protect confidential information with at least the same level of diligence they would use to protect their own sensitive business data.
Furthermore, Even Hotels franchisees are responsible for ensuring adequate security and backup procedures to avoid unauthorized access to, use of, or inadvertent loss of data. The franchisee has the discretion to determine appropriate security measures, but these must be no less than the standard of care in the industry. This implies that franchisees need to stay informed about current industry best practices for data security and implement measures accordingly.
In addition to these general standards, the Even Hotels franchisee must ensure all designated users comply with industry best practices to implement secure passwords, regularly change such passwords, and protect the security and privacy of their user logins and the PMS data. The franchisee is solely responsible for any claims and losses relating to unauthorized third-party access to the PMS solution and/or PMS data that results from a breach of these security measures. This highlights the importance of ongoing training and enforcement of security protocols among all users of the system.
Overall, these requirements emphasize the importance of data security and confidentiality for Even Hotels franchisees. Failure to meet these standards could result in liability for data breaches and damage to the brand's reputation. Prospective franchisees should carefully consider the costs and effort associated with implementing and maintaining these security measures.