My Lips are Sealed: NDAs for Dummies

​I grew up on the mean streets of N.E. Portland with only two options of getting out. The choice was either pushing drugs or signing an N.D.A. My formative years were hard, my life tempered by the lawlessness and violence surrounding me. Time was running out for this streetwise rapscallion, and soon it would be too late.

Oh, you think I meant N.B.A. Nope. I'm afraid this player has got no game. I'm talking N.D.A. (Non-Disclosure Agreement). Recently I signed with an unspecified company for an unknown amount. Geez, J.P., could you be just a little more specific. Not really. This is what an N.D.A. is all about.

I can tell you this; I enjoy announcing my small creative victories on social media. Does that make me a social media whore? Yes. But we can talk about my seamy proclivities later. When I asked the company if I could announce I was working with them, they were pretty firm in their response. I will give you a hint. It was one harsh sentence, started with the word "no" and did not have "may" in it, as in, "no, you may not."

So, let's discuss the wonderful world of N.D.A.

According to Wikipedia,

A non-disclosure agreement (N.D.A.), also known as a confidentiality agreement (C.A.), confidential disclosure agreement (C.D.A.), proprietary information agreement (P.I.A.) or secrecy agreement (S.A.) or 'non-disparagement agreement' is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share for specific purposes, but want to restrict access to. ​Doctor-patient confidentiality (physician-patient privilege), attorney-client privilege, priest-penitent privilege , and bank–client confidentiality agreements are examples of N.D.A.s, which are often not enshrined in a written contract between the parties.


I can't shake the feeling that I would've been much better off if I had signed several N.D.A.s throughout my lifetime. In this, or any, business, sometimes saying nothing at all is better than the alternative. Ask anyone who knows me; I am almost too willing to talk. I would have made a lousy prisoner of war. I'd have spilled it all: name, rank, serial number, personal debt to income ratio. In business, T.M.I. is a hell of a reason for N.D.A. For blabbermouths like me, suing someone for violating an N.D.A. can be one hell of an incentive.

I have signed an N.D.A. once before, and no, it wasn't for either Scott, Harvey, or even Kevin. I will just say it was necessary and easy. And, as far as the current one, it’s an N.D.A., I can’t tell you jack!

And now, since I could not find a video even remotely close to our subject matter, I bring you this.