trade secrets - bloggers beware

This story from the Motley Fool is a little old, but I think it is a nice introduction into what bloggers need to be concerned about when blogging about their own companies.  The story explores many of the concerns employees and companies have concerning blogging – i.e the need to balance freedom of speech issues while at the same time staying on top of the corporate image and/or publicity.

One topic that didn’t make its way into the article, however, is the concern over trade secrets.  Think about how inexpensive and simple it is to set up a blog and how quickly confidential and proprietary company information can be made available in an easily accessible and readable format via a blog. 

For example, Apple has already begun making rumblings about this issue with respect to employees leaking new product details to bloggers.

What’s next?  Company financial information? Company customer lists? 

Something to think about.