sensitive information, employers should also consider requiring those employees to sign agreements acknowledging the duty to keep such information secure and providing specific guidelines on appropriate practices for keeping that information secure. Confidential and Proprietary Information. The Uniform Trade Secrets Act, codified in Minnesota at Minn. Stat. § 325C.01, et seq., prohibits misappropriation of trade secrets and provides employers with the right to injunctive relief and actual damages in the event of a threatened or actual misappropriation. The law defines a trade secret as information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known by others, so long as the employer makes reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. Employers should also consider entering into written agreements with employees to either broaden the scope of protected information or simply to provide more information to employees about what the employer considers to be confidential. Although such agreements cannot stop employees from breaching their obligations by publishing information online, the agreements will at least bolster the employer’s case for injunctive relief and damages in the event of such a disclosure. Employer Policies and Practices A well-crafted technology and social media policy that balances company needs and concerns against employees’ legal rights is an important tool in managing competing legal risks. Some of the business and legal risks that an employer should address in a technology and social media policy include: • Covered technology and devices : Employers should consider whether the policy will extend only to employer-paid or provided devices or whether the employer may lawfully and should extend the policy to personally-owned devices used for work purposes. The law is still evolving in this area, and it is not clear whether employers
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