In a word, for protection. Sometimes the mere discussion of entering into a business arrangement requires the disclosure of confidential or proprietary information about the structure of your company, your clients, trade secrets, financial data, and/or the way you do business. Imagine, then, that the other party takes that information—your marketing plans, your invention, your distribution channels, your client or customer list, maybe—and uses it to open a competing business. Or they might re-structure their business to compete against you, or simply pass information on to another competitor. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement and often used in conjunction with a non-compete and/or non-circumvention agreement, protects both parties when they share information while discussing a mutually beneficial joint venture. If you have invented a new type of gel wrist rest, for instance, you would be wise to insist on an NDA before giving details of your invention to a marketing company or manufacturer, regardless of the status of any patent application. An NDA is also frequently attached to employee contracts and agreements to ensure that employees don't simply run off with your business, whether that's the list of people you mow lawns for or a novel slant on graphic design and its accompanying marketing plan at a technology start-up in Silicon Valley. FastDue's free and interactive Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) template is easy to use and just as relevant to individuals and mom-and-pop enterprises as to small businesses and big corporations—in fact to anyone who wants to increase their efficiency by moving business functions online. If you’d like to alter any term, simply click on it and you will be able to add your own language or an additional term such as ‘marketing plans’, or you may delete the term entirely. Tip: Read the agreement carefully. Are you content with the term limitation, usually for the term of the agreement plus anywhere from three years afterwards to ‘in perpetuity’? Should you add in a particular product secret or work method? If you want to add a term, simply click on the blue link, "Add Term". You may wish to add language about exceptions. These might apply, for example, should the proprietary information become generally known through no fault of yours, or should you have developed similar information completely (and provably) independently, or if the information is furnished by a third party without restriction. Tip: FastDue.com’s interactive messaging option enables you and the other party to comment back and forth until you reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Sign and send. Remember that the agreement is not complete until both parties have signed. Electronic Signatures The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, or E-SIGN, was signed into law in 2000 and provides a consistent legal basis for the validity of electronic signatures in all states, including those such as Georgia and Illinois that had not already enacted UETA, or the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. An electronic signature can be as simple as typing your name into the signature space and preserving the accompanying electronic paper trail. More complex (and therefore more secure) forms include iris or fingerprint scans and encrypted digital signatures that use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) such as VeriSign. Electronic signatures are valid for a wide range of applications; they are not, however, valid for wills, court orders and other court documents. It is always smart to keep a back-up paper copy, and if you have any concerns at all about using an electronic signature it is a good idea to use FastDue's free interactive template and messaging system to thrash out the details of an agreement; then print out the final result and sign in the traditional fashion.