Breach of Confidentiality by Employees | Espionage

When company secrets are disclosed – whether explicitly designated as confidential or clearly recognisable as internal by their very nature – the “talkative” employee commits a criminal offence. The disclosed information may include customer databases, tender details, functional and construction plans, salary structures, investment measures and much more. In addition to the numerous innovation-driven companies in Hanover, there is also a large number of significant research institutes whose findings are highly sought after and must be protected prior to publication, including the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (founded by the renowned criminologist Hans-Dieter Schwind), the Geozentrum Hannover and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics.

 

Espionage can occur in many ways. The most common method is the infiltration of employees into the target company or the bribery of staff already working there. However, in the digital age, IT attacks are becoming increasingly significant as a means of espionage. Even traditional eavesdropping using acoustic surveillance devices remains widespread. Kurtz Investigations Hanover can provide proof for all of the aforementioned methods: +49 511 2028 0016.

Man in a suit accepting a bribe behind his back; Kurtz Investigations Hanover, detective office Hanover, detective team Hanover, detective Hanover

Money in exchange for information: an espionage technique that has always worked and is unlikely to go out of fashion anytime soon.

Criminal Offence of Disclosure of Trade and Business Secrets

Pursuant to Section 17 of the German Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG), the disclosure of trade and business secrets is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment, and in particularly serious cases by up to five years. The law distinguishes between two fundamental forms of conduct: the disclosure of entrusted secrets and the disclosure of unlawfully obtained secrets (espionage). The offence requires a specific intent, namely:

 

  • Disclosure of secrets for personal gain (for example in exchange for money or benefits in kind)
  • Disclosure of secrets in order to grant a third party a competitive advantage
  • Disclosure of secrets with the intention of harming the affected company

 

Particularly serious cases arise when the disclosure is carried out on a commercial basis or when the offender knows that the disclosed secret is to be used abroad (economic espionage between nation states).