subject: What Happens If Someone Violates A Confidentiality Agreement? [print this page] In the UK, a Confidentiality Agreement helps enable a business or person to initially explore the possibilities for a deal without first having to sign an official contract. It provides a good way of safeguarding your trade secrets or any information that you consider to be sensitive.
A Confidentiality Agreement in the UK is also known as the Non-Disclosure Agreement in the US. The British law, however, recognizes both versions, and in the UK, the law in this agreement is basic contract law. Hence, it is considered to be strong and clear enough to be enforceable in the courts of law.
A Confidentiality Agreement can significantly help you manage your risks in a deal by putting restrictions on the kinds of information that need to be discloses, and on the people who know about it. It is also extremely important that no matter who the information goes to, the receiving party must be asked to sign a Confidentiality Agreement. Whether friends, family, relatives, or otherwise, all must be equally accountable for the information shared with them in the course of a deal.
Important fundamentals of a Confidentiality Agreement
Parties can be both individuals or businesses
The agreement can be generic inn nature, or as the situation dictates, be more in depth in its application
Any type of information can be covered under this agreement
What does the Confidentiality Agreement include:
Definition of the confidential information
Types of information not covered
Means of data storage and security terms
Compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 1988
Ownership of Information
Miscellaneous legal provisions to protect your interests
Breach of the Confidentiality Agreement
It will depend on the individual case if or not a breach of a confidentiality agreement will lead to legal action. Options that are available can include:
A permanent ban with damages awarded.
A provisional restriction on any further disclosure until a court hearing has occurred.
The return of any disclosed documents.
Financial damages if a disclosed information led to sales of a product
In the event the receiving party is proven to have breached its obligations under the agreement, then the party will be liable for damages or any remedies that are available to the disclosing party, and may include financial damages being awarded to the disclosing party.
If the breaching party is banned by the law, then it can help prevent any further breach of the agreement. In any case, however, it must be kept in mind that legal proceedings involved in enforcing a confidentiality agreement is expensive and lengthy due to the nature of the terms.
Additionally, while it may be true that any injunction in the legal proceedings can prevent future episodes of the breach of the agreement, it becomes extremely difficult to control or even contain the sensitive information after its disclosure. Because enforcing the agreement has many factors to be considered, it important that you enter into a Confidentiality Agreement only with a party you trust to keep your sensitive information confidential.
