> The magnitude of the secret does not matter: if your company says "don't steal and leak our data" and you go ahead and do it, it's still wrong

I don't share your reverence for corporate secrets. To you, the exceptions are the secrets it is ok to share. To me, the exceptions are the secrets it is ok for corporations to keep. And corporations have certainly not earned the benefit of the doubt that I would assume, despite their willful silence, that these were legitimate.

you're entitled to your opinion, but it is not one shared by the normal parts of the government (which supports corporate IP). I think you have a larger issue that is independent of whether this individual is qualified for the role they most recently occupied.

Don't I know it. It's why trade secrets are protected by law, while smart TVs spying on users, with or without revealing it somewhere deep in their EULA, does not get even a slap on the wrist. And why the government bullies other countries into adopting restrictive, maximalist IP laws, but is wholly unbothered by consumer rights getting trampled by DRM and EULAs, or ridiculous patents getting granted.

We're racing to a corporate dystopia, and this is the reason why.