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How Can Employers Protect Their Confidential and Proprietary Information?

By Marcia E. Goodman and Lori Zahalka

Seventy three percent of online adults use at least one social networking site. Ninety percent of Generation Y (ages 18-29) use at least one social media platform. See Pew Research, “Social Networking Fact Sheet,” http://bit.ly/PUVhz4; Pew Research, “Social Media Update 2013,” http://bit.ly/OKvIzg. The information that users post on social media sites, for better or for worse, has the potential to reach a broad audience and reach it quickly. To use a well-known example, a former public relations director of corporate communication for a major company tweeted before boarding a plane, “Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!” and before she landed, that tweet had been retweeted over 3,000 times.

Social media also makes it easier than ever to connect and communicate with clients and co-workers and to disseminate information about a company's brand or services. Accordingly, employers should take steps to protect their social media presence, accounts, and contacts. While social media certainly has benefits, it also poses risks for employers when it comes to protecting their confidential information and trade secrets, particularly given social media's casual real-time feel that may lull employees into forgetting that all the restrictions that normally attach to work-related communications still apply. For example, work-related posts to social media are still subject to all relevant regulations, such as the SEC's Regulation FD, other regulatory requirements, and any policies the employer has in place regarding intellectual property, confidentiality, harassment, discrimination, and Internet use.

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