Departing workers often take proprietary company data.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - Survey - Statistical data

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A recent survey shows that hen people leave their employer, many take proprietary company data with them.

Nearly 60% of employees who quit a job or were asked to leave reported stealing company data, according to a report by the Ponemon Institute. The survey was based on interviews with 945 adults who were laid off, fired, or changed jobs in the past year.

The research group found that 79% of individuals who admitted to taking data said they did so despite knowing that their former employer did not allow them to take internal company information.

"More and more people seem to feel entitled to information they create on the job, and an increase in mobility in the workforce means many employees don't have a lasting relationship with their employers," Ponemon Institute founder Larry Ponemon told The Washington Post. "Also, as you have more employees working from remote locations and on home computers, the concept of who really controls this data isn't often clear to people."

But it should be. Jon Groetzinger, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland, told the Post that most companies require employees, upon hiring them, to sign contracts specifically stating they cannot take sensitive or proprietary company data. Also, employees who take such data when they leave a job may also violate state and federal laws, which can cost as much as $5 million in fines for a new employer caught using or profiting from it.

Of those surveyed...