An apparatus which manages confidentiality of information. This apparatus includes: a recording unit operable to record information in association with a history of users having accessed the information, or, with access rights defining users able to access the information; a generating unit operable to generate management information indicating whether the information should be managed confidentially from users not permitted to access the information; a selecting unit operable to select, based on the history or access rights, users able to access the information; and a notifying unit operable to notify the selected users of the generated management information in association with identification information of the information.