Attorney Andy Serwin writes:
California Penal Code Section 502 regulates unauthorized access to computers and computer networks and has implications for employers with employees in California. It is an offense if any person: knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages, deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer system, or computer network in order to either devise or execute any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort, or wrongfully control or obtain money, property, or data; or knowingly accesses and without permission takes, copies, or makes use of any data from a computer, computer system, or computer network, or takes or copies any supporting documentation, whether existing or residing internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network, among other acts. This statute has been used by employers in cases where employees improperly access systems or computer resources, particularly where trade secrets are involved.
One issue that has arisen is whether the information that is misappropriated must be confidential.
Read more on Labor & Employment Law Perspectives.