Guilty verdict for violation of professional confidentiality – art. 370C of the Greek PC

Following a complaint filed by our client (the plaintiff company), criminal prosecution was initiated against the former employee – the accused – for committing the offense under paragraph 1 of Article 370c of the Penal Code, namely the violation of professional confidentiality through unfair copying of computer data. Specifically, as proven during the hearing process and acknowledged by the presiding court, the accused deliberately copied onto a personal hard-drive the customer and supplier files of the company she was employed by, containing their complete contact information, which constitute professional confidential information, after she had resigned from her position. A few days later, she began working for a competing company operating in the same industry. The Court, accepting the arguments we presented in support of the charge, recognized the commission of the crime by the accused, further concurring that for the commission of this crime, it is not necessary for the perpetrator to make use of the copied data or for the use itself to cause harm to the plaintiff company (e.g., customer diversion) or to have an intention for such purposes. It is sufficient that the conduct of the perpetrator creates a risk to the information constituting professional confidentiality. Therefore, the opposing party was sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment.