A confidentiality agreement, also known as a nondisclosure agreement, is a contract or part of a contract that contains a promise by someone not to disclose certain information. This can include trade secrets, customer lists and other data that should not be made available to others.

These types of agreements are commonly used in business for employment contracts, independent contractor agreements, and when entering into negotiations to buy or sell a business…and even for joint ventures, franchising, and licensing deals.

A confidentiality agreement will not prevent a dishonest person from disclosing information. However, a properly drafted agreement can encourage the person who signs it to do the right thing and provide for damages if the information is leaked.

About the Author

With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 14 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young shows entrepreneurs how to protect and grow their businesses online. He's the author of Internet Marketing Legal Secrets Revealed. Not just a lawyer who focuses exclusively on Internet and marketing law, Mike’s been working with computers for more than 27 years (his first computer was an Atari 400 with 8 KiB RAM) and started representing Internet businesses back in 1996.