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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 29 A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 1 6 C O R P O R AT E P R I VA C Y & S E C U R I T Y F O C U S Watch out for customer lists "Customer lists can be trade secrets when they're more than simply a list of names and numbers," Sackman says. "Someone accused of theft can say, 'Wait a minute, I can just Google the name of this person and fi nd their address and phone number. ere's nothing secret about that.' But it becomes commer- cially valuable when you have a list that includes additional information such as customer preferences. For example, consider the customer list of a fi nancial advisory company. e list is likely to include individual customer investment philosophies, their net worth, their toler- ance for risk, and be organized in way that, when the company has a new prod- uct, they pull up the list and see if their customer might like it. A list like that is probably a valid trade secret." In general, he says, "A trade secret is an idea or process or concept not generally known to the public, pro- vides some form of economic benefi t to the person or company that has that idea, and has been subject to rea- sonable measures to keep it secret." For small businesses, Sackman says, it might not make economic sense to keep trade secrets. "If you have a farm stand and sell homemade jams, do you worry about your trade secrets? Probably not," he says. "But if you're a company of some size and have come up with certain formulas to brew your beer, then per- haps it makes sense." Digital technology makes trade secrets more vulnerable than in the past. "It used to be that something like a customer list existed in a spreadsheet or notebook, locked in a cabinet in a locked offi ce in the brick-and-mortar business," Sackman says. "Now data is infi nitely more mobile. You see people emailing information to themselves." umb drives are another popu- lar way to steal secrets. "Plug into the company's internal network, download key information, throw the thumb drive in your pocket and off you go." eft can result in huge fi nancial losses, the scale depending on the size of the company. It can also be an exis- tential threat. "Even if you're not talking about giant corporations, you might fi nd it's important to pursue this kind of liti- gation, if a new company is trading on your information and goodwill, and competing in the same space," he says. Be aware of DTSA provisions Sackman advises clients to educate themselves on DTSA, whose provi- sions include: A whistle-blower notifi cation requires businesses with nondisclo- sure agreements to notify employees that employees involved in an inves- tigation of illegal or improper activity are allowed to disclose information, otherwise protected as a trade secret, to the investigating agency. However, the penalty for lack of notifi cation isn't severe. With notifi cation, suc- cessful litigation can recover attorney fees plus double damages. Without notifi cation, employers can still liti- gate and recover actual damages. Employers must notify employees that employees involved in a lawsuit may disclose trade secrets under seal. e notifi cation helps employ- ees who have signed nondisclosure agreements with their company. An "ex parte seizure" provision allows companies to obtain a court order to have law enforcement seize trade secret-infringing items without noti- fying the alleged perpetrator. is is an "extraordinary remedy" and will likely rarely be used, says Sackman. "I think employers would be wise to look at the act, as part of updating their corporate documents or routine reviews of employee contracts, and cer- tainly as they're hiring new people," says Sackman. "If you're a business that relies on certain information that's secret, you might want to understand what this is. It's a new form of protection companies can consider drawing upon, assuming they've taken reasonable measures to keep that information secret." L S, who covers real estate and other industries for Mainebiz, can be reached at @ . Untrained Employees 95% of successful security attacks are the result of human error — IBM Learn More About SE Security Awareness Training 207.772.3199 syseng.com/metraining Untrained Employees IT threats– who puts your network at risk every day? www.norrisinc.com Advancing security, life safety, and communications. Norris Inc. See the big picture. We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected We feel strongly that secrets need to be protected to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to to have a healthy economy. So we're happy to see laws strengthened that help our customers protect their secrets. — Joshua Broder, Tilson Technologies

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