Newberry Authors Business Data Protection Bill

State Sen. Dan Newberry has filed legislation to strengthen the state’s laws on business data protection. SB 1013 adds copying customer lists and business records without authorization to the state’s criminal statutes concerning larceny of trade secrets.

“We have examples every day of individuals stealing information that should be kept private, and using it for personal gain. Theft like this can have serious consequences for the companies that fall victim to it,” said Newberry, R-Tulsa. “We need to strengthen our laws to help protect the rights of our businesses and their owners.”

The bill also amends the definition of “copying” to include the transferring and emailing of trade secrets. Business customer lists and records stored in a computer format or otherwise would be considered trade secrets under the new legislation. Those found guilty of copying, transferring or emailing such articles without authorization with the intent to deprive or withhold control of those trade secrets from the business owner or to use them for personal use would be charged with larceny.

Newberry gave an example where an employee took the client database from the company’s server and emailed it to his personal email. He then attempted to delete the files from the company’s server. Since he was an employee at the time, he could only face civil charges. Newberry said his bill would change that.

“My bill will ensure that these criminals are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. “