The Importance of Confidentiality Section in Information Technology Contracts

Resumen

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In this article the reader can understand the importance of including a confidentiality section when dealing with Information Technologies contracts or agreements. The various types of this section are illustrated to visualize the different applications.

En éste artículo el lector podrá comprender la importancia que reviste la inclusión de la cláusula de confidencialidad en contratos de Tecnologías de la Información, sus diferentes tipos y aplicaciones.

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Extracto

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The Importance of Confidentiality Section in Information Technology Contracts

Information Technologies have expanded towards many spheres of businesses all around the world. Almost every corporation or industry depends on them for production, logistics, administration, quality control and many other issues. Contracts regarding this matter have evolved quickly and are in permanent actualization.

For many businesses and companies confidentiality agreements are used as a way of stopping competitors gaining important company information. When a new employee begins a job they will be informed whether or not they will have to sign a confidentiality agreement. Once this agreement has been made then the recipient of the information cannot disclose or use the information except as authorized by terms of the agreement.1

Government offices that hold sensitive personal details on members of the public can ask employees to sign these agreements. The agreement does not have to be written, and a verbal confidentiality agreement is as legally binding as a written one.

Confidentiality agreements, also referred to as non-disclosure agreements, are agreements that are used when the owner of confidential information wishes to disclose that information to another party (either an individual or a company) usually in the course of business negotiations, and wishes the information to remain confidential. By signing a confidentiality agreement, the recipient under-takes the obligation not to disclose the confidential information as defined in the agreement. While the terms of a confidentiality agreement can typically be detailed in 3 to 4 pages, a confidentiality agreement could be 15 or more pages when it covers, for instance, jointly developed, patentable technology.2

Contracts, in almost every branch and particularly those referring to Information Technologies, often contain a clause pledging to maintain confidentiality about corporate-related information acquired in the process of conducting a new project.

As David V. Radack establishes, such agreement...

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