Daryo Sep 23, 2013:

"the only 100% safe computer is the one not connected to any network"; but also a not much useful one.
If you push it far enough, even simply asking a question can reveal too much; the source/target language can sometimes point to just one country, and the context can point to a sector of activity with just one company that could be interested in that country, so there's even no need to name the company for someone interested to learn enough.

All that to say that if an organisation is so keen on secrecy, they should have their own in-house translators/interpreters. But good luck trying to explain that to bean-counters.

Anyway, from the bits you've given so far, it seems fairly clear that your ST is about privacy of shoppers. But there are many angles under which this issue could be considered, so not giving more context may lead to answers that are not wrong, but still totally useless for your specific ST.

writeaway Sep 21, 2013:

Ok. I respect your great fear of disclosure But I do suggest asking such questions privately. Posting them on a www site like this without any source language context is annoying and almost counter-productive. If the fear is so great, why let people know you are even working on something like this? I find myself second-guessing which supermarket chain it is, knowing at least one huge family-owned chain that has its seat in the Lille region..... If the supermarket is that important, then industrial spies will already be hard at work in any case.
This is not questioning your good right to ask whatever question you want to. I'm just trying to stress the futility of asking about things that can't be revealed in any way.

SafeTex (asker) Sep 21, 2013:

@Tony: I prefer 'no help' to 'no client' Tony

Please consider the following

1 A client can be identified if the document is already on the NET with just one or two specific sentences

2 The fact that the document is on the NET does not mean that the present work is not confidential.
If a client translates from say French to Italian, it is pretty clear where he hopes to move in next and THIS is perhaps the info that is confidential

3 Many clients outsource thru Proz and even if the info does not get back to their competitors, the client may well see that the translator has revealed the very info he wants to keep secret (going to Italy next)

4 I'm in a good position to judge if the immediate context can help you more than the context that I described. In this case, the immediate context does not even tell you that the building is open to the general public. My description of the context is more than sufficient therefore.

So I conclude that I prefer 'no help (to quote you) as opposed to 'no client'

This is not to say that i don't want and don't value your help but why I don't agree with this insistence on exact context and I don't plan to change

Regards

writeaway Sep 21, 2013:

Why not ask one of your trusted colleagues privately? I see a super colleague on your WWW who should be able to help you out splendidly. And you can explain it to her without fear.

SafeTex (asker) Sep 21, 2013:

@Tony Hello
the text does exist online and that is why i'm so wary. I don't think the customer would want others to know that they are moving further afield.

But I really have given the context and the surrounding text would not change anything.

The word 'grande' is not used by the way.

Jack Dunwell Sep 21, 2013:

Safetex I rather agree with Tony. I should imagine that best solution will then appear clearly.

writeaway Sep 21, 2013:

With 00 context, we can't even be sure that the word 'grandes' hasn't been left out from 'surfaces privées' just to mask the context even more. Without having some idea of what is actually meant here, all anyone can do is post a hopeful guess and the only person who knows if the guess is close is asker. So helpful peer grading becomes impossible. One can just give a friendly agree to a pal, but that's about it.
If I have a terminology question about a text that I want to keep secret at all cost, then I ask the question privately, not on a site like this. And the first the thing those colleagues wants to know is the context....

Tony M Sep 21, 2013:

@ Asker Your explanations are not sufficient to replace a chunk of source text; unless you know for sure that your source text exists on line (as easy for you to check as for us), there is no danger of revealing your customer's identity; in the relatively unlikely event that it is, then you can very readily make minor changes to the text in order to render it useless in a search.
Otherwise, it simply isn't posible to help you properly here from the information given.

SafeTex (asker) Sep 21, 2013:

Precision Hello

Writeaway is gonna be upset with me but I'm often wary of giving extracts where the client could be identified even if i take out their name.

The context is definitely supermarkets and areas where the general public are allowed to go but as it is a private building, they are subject to rules and regulations.

I could use Cyril's idea or something similar and add in brackets, "open to the general public"

Regards and thanks for your help

SafeTex

Jack Dunwell Sep 21, 2013:

Safetex If these are the offices and warehouses, they are often marked "Staff Only" areas.

writeaway Sep 21, 2013:

Please post the sentence in French so we can how the term is being used in the actual context. Thanks