About this confidentiality agreement

Use this confidentiality agreement for situations where a contractor, consultant or supplier will learn sensitive information during the course of their work or service for you. The sensitive information may be directly related to the service the other party is carrying out (for example, a management consultant may need to know directors' salaries, or a parts supplier might need to know exactly what you are manufacturing with the machine) or the other party may find out in the course of providing the service (for example, IT contractors may find out the identities of some of your clients as they fix a computer or a bathroom fitter might find out your hygiene habits).

You can use this confidentiality agreement to prevent the contractor or supplier from acting on the information and thus you can help protect your personal or business information or ideas. Signing a confidentiality agreement also reminds the other party that the information is sensitive, preventing them from claiming ignorance of its value to you. Of course total secrecy is best.  But there are many occasions in life when secrets need to be disclosed, or might be found out.

This document is drawn broadly to cover all information passing to the other party, but in a way that enables you to insert your own precise secrets if you want to specify them.

The document gives you choices as to how you want the recipient of your information to deal with it. You may limit disclosure to the person who signs this agreement or you may allow him to pass the information to other professional advisers or employees or consultants.  You decide.

Points to consider in how you manage confidentiality and non-disclosure

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is, for all purposes, a different name for a confidentiality agreement. “Non-disclosure agreement” is more commonly used in the USA and tends to suggest protection against passing-on of information alone rather than use of the information as well. The law in this agreement is basic contract law. It is strong and clear.

You should recognise that all the legal agreements in the world cannot prevent accidental or unintentional disclosure (for example, careless talk over a drink with a friend, or when leaving your documents out for public rubbish collection). A good confidentiality agreement (like this one) should therefore also cover what happens if the information is used or disclosed.

You can also manage risks by limiting the information that you disclose, and the people who know about it. Both these things are covered by this non disclosure agreement. Both individuals and business owners tend to be most diffident about asking for a confidentiality agreement from people they “trust” with their ideas, but who have no obligation to keep confidentiality (for example, friends, relatives, potential investors, partners and customers). This is a great mistake. The upside of protection from insisting on an agreement far outweighs the downside of loss of private data.

When to use this confidentiality agreement

This agreement is about how sensitive information will be kept confidential. The actual nature and subject of the information is not important to agreement of how it will be used. Therefore, there are many situations in which this document can be used.

Either party can initiate use of a confidentiality agreement. If you are the receiver of information, you can make the other side at ease by suggesting the use of one before they do.

The agreement should be signed before information is disclosed.

The agreement should be used when a service provider, contractor or consultant may require or find out sensitive information in the course of acting for you. It could be used as a supplementary agreement to an employment contract, but only if the employment contract does not cover confidentiality already. Examples of use could be when:

• You are hiring a business adviser on non-employment basis
• A supplier will need to become involved in your business or personal affairs (perhaps in order to deliver the service or goods)

Net Lawman also sells other similar agreements for slightly different circumstances:

Two or more parties are disclosing information to each other: Mutual confidentiality agreement

Only one party is disclosing information to others: Confidentiality agreement: single party disclosure

A creator of an artistic work wishes to show his or her work for third party assessment with a view to sale, publication, manufacture or use. This agreement expands on copyright protection: Confidentiality agreement for an artistic work

Confidentiality agreement features and contents

• Either or both parties can be individuals or businesses
• Can be used to protect defined information, or generally
• The subject and nature of the information being kept confidential can be anything

The paragraphs in the agreement include:

• Interpretation
• Definition of the confidential information: can be as broad or specific as you like
• Excluded information
• Non-disclosure
• Security of disclosed information: how information must be kept and stored
• Ownership and warranty
• Undertakings not to steal customers and staff
• Other legal provisions to protect your interests

Reasons to buy from Net Lawman

Full money back guarantee – buy with confidence
This confidentiality agreement comes with a no questions asked full money back guarantee. You take no risk that it might not be right. Once you buy it, we’ll give you 30 days to evaluate it in any way you want. If for any reason you’re not happy, just e-mail us and we’ll refund your money in full immediately.

Guidance notes included - prior legal knowledge is not required
Comprehensive guidance notes, written by the author of the document, are included. These notes ensure that you don’t need to be a lawyer or have knowledge of the law to understand which paragraphs you should edit to complete the agreement.

Minimal editing required
This confidentiality agreement has been written specifically in such a way that you don’t need to spend hours editing it. It uses an approach where you remove the sections that aren’t applicable to you, so you don’t have to add any back, write your own, or worry about whether you are using correct legal language.

Paragraphs have been written to stand alone from each other. Removing one that isn’t applicable to your circumstances doesn’t affect the standing of any other in the non-disclosure agreement.

Plain language minimises future disagreements
Your confidentiality agreement is real law written in plain language that all parties will understand. This will minimise the likelihood of later disputes.

If a dispute does arise and you find yourself in court, the judge will look more favourably on a legal agreement written in plain language over one peppered with complicated legal jargon. Your case will be stronger if it is clear that both sides understood the agreement when it was signed.

Buy once – re-use again and again
You can use the non-disclosure agreement as many times as you like – just create a new document from the master version.

Delivered straight to your inbox
As soon as you complete the secure checkout process, we will send your non-disclosure agreement straight to your inbox. We will also keep a copy for you for 60 days in our customer area so you can access it even when you are away from your e-mail.

Still unsure whether this is the right document for you?
If you are unsure whether this confidentiality agreement is suitable for your particular circumstances, then you have two options. The first is to buy now, evaluate the template, and use the 30 day, full money back guarantee to obtain a refund if it isn’t suitable. You take no risk in seeing the non-disclosure agreement. The second option is to contact us using the link below and ask. We can’t offer you legal advice on your situation, but we can help you find the document you want. We aim to respond to your question within 24 hours.