A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legally binding contract between parties to keep specified information confidential and not use it outside the agreement's scope. Also called a confidentiality agreement or CDA, it is used to protect trade secrets, business plans, customer data, source code, pricing information, and other sensitive information during business discussions, employment relationships, contractor engagements, partnership negotiations, and M&A processes. It is one of the most-common business contracts and one founders consistently misuse, both by asking for NDAs in inappropriate contexts and by failing to use them in appropriate ones.
The two main NDA types: one-way (or unilateral) NDA binds only one party to confide...