What an NDA actually does
A non-disclosure agreement protects confidential information shared while parties explore a deal, and unlike a memorandum of understanding or a letter of intent, it is binding as soon as it is signed. There is no non-binding stage to manage.
DealDocs treats party count and direction as parameters of one document type rather than separate products. An NDA is mutual by default, so both sides share and receive information under the same obligations, with a one-way version available for two-party agreements where only one side is disclosing. The same document supports two, three, or four parties.
What's typically included
Every NDA DealDocs assembles is built from the same maintained clause library. Depending on your answers, a typical NDA includes:
- Definition of Confidential Information — what counts, and what is deliberately carved out
- Obligations — how the receiving party must handle what it is given
- Exclusions — information already public, already known, or independently developed
- Permitted Disclosures — the narrow list of people allowed to see it, commonly employees, advisors, and sometimes regulators
- No License, No Reverse Engineering — sharing information is not the same as granting rights to use it
- Return and Destruction — what happens to the information once the relationship ends
- Non-Solicitation — stops one side from using the introduction to poach the other's people
- Term — how long confidentiality lasts, including trade secret protection that can outlast the term itself
- Breach Notice and Remedies — what happens, and how fast, if something leaks
Some sections are jurisdiction-specific rather than universal: a DTSA whistleblower notice for NDAs governed by US law, and a personal information clause for NDAs governed by Ontario law. DealDocs adds these automatically based on the governing law you choose.
Where NDAs go wrong
The completeness check built into DealDocs looks for the gaps that show up most often in real NDAs:
- No term at all, or a term so long it becomes difficult to enforce
- Confidential information defined so broadly that it covers information nobody actually cares about protecting
- Silence on return and destruction once the relationship ends
- No non-solicitation language, even where the whole point of the introduction was to meet the other side's team
- Missing the jurisdiction-specific clause a governing law requires
How it works
- Answer a guided interview. Parties, direction, purpose, and governing law, nothing else.
- Get a free preview. The plain English guide and a completeness check, no account required to see what's included.
- Unlock when you're ready. US$19.99 for the full text, the Word download, and the lawyer memo.
NDA templates by country
DealDocs maintains NDA templates for 21 countries, each drafted for its own law:
Frequently asked questions
Is an NDA the same as a confidentiality agreement?
Yes. Most jurisdictions use the two terms interchangeably for the same document. DealDocs calls it an NDA throughout for consistency.
Can an NDA cover more than two parties?
Yes. DealDocs supports two, three, or four parties in one agreement, mutual by default, so every signer takes on the same obligations.
Does an NDA expire?
The obligations end at the date set in the Term clause, though trade secret protection commonly continues afterward under most jurisdictions' laws, which is why the Term clause needs to say so explicitly rather than leave it implied.
Can I regenerate an NDA after I download it?
You can tweak and regenerate freely before your first download. Once a document is downloaded, that project is locked to prevent one purchase from being reused to generate unrelated agreements; a new deal needs a new unlock.
Free to draft and preview. Unlock the full text and downloads for US$19.99.
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