It can, but a customer list is not automatically a trade secret. Penal Code section 499c requires qualifying trade-secret information and a specified unauthorized act done with the required intent. Whether a particular list qualifies depends on what it contains, whether it had independent economic value from not being generally known, and whether reasonable steps were taken to keep it secret (Penal Code section 499c(a)(9)).
The list and the alleged conduct both matter
Section 499c(b) sets out four routes: stealing, taking, carrying away, or using a trade secret without authorization; fraudulently appropriating an entrusted article representing a trade secret; copying such an article without authority after unlawfully obtaining access; or, after access through trust and confidence, copying directly from and in the presence of the article without authority and in breach of that relationship. Each route also requires intent to deprive the owner of control of the secret or appropriate it for oneself or someone else. The accusation therefore calls for more than a label like “customer list” or the fact that someone left a job with business information.
Useful records include the exact information copied, how it was compiled and maintained, whether it was available to the public or competitors, access restrictions or confidentiality steps, when and how it was accessed or copied, and what the person intended to do with it. A password or prior authorized access does not by itself answer whether section 499c applies. Nor does the fact that a list concerns customers establish that the statutory secrecy and value requirements are met.
The criminal rule is separate from civil trade-secret law. Civil Code section 3426.1(d) also defines a trade secret through economic value from secrecy and reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy; its civil framework should not be treated as identical to every element of Penal Code section 499c (Civil Code section 3426.1(d)).
Returning the item later is not a defense under Penal Code section 499c(d). If you have been accused, preserve original files and communications and do not delete or alter data after receiving notice. Ask counsel to examine what information was actually copied, the employer’s secrecy measures, the access history, and the conduct alleged. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can review the accusation and available records with you. Call (800) 755-5174, or see the firm’s white-collar crime overview.