NDA meaning, in one paragraph
When you need to show someone something valuable before you can trust them (a prototype, your financials, a customer list), an NDA turns that trust into a legal promise. The recipient agrees not to disclose the information and not to use it except for the stated purpose. If they break the promise, you can go to court for an order to stop them and for damages.
The parts every NDA has
- Parties: who is sharing and who is receiving.
- Purpose: why the information is being shared.
- Definition of confidential information.
- Exclusions: what isn’t confidential even if shared.
- Obligations: how the recipient must treat it.
- Term: how long the duty lasts.
- Remedies and general terms: injunctions, governing law, signatures.
Try it: is it covered?
The definition and the exclusions decide almost every NDA dispute. Work through these seven situations.
Interactive quiz loads in your browser.
Types of NDA
- Unilateral (one-way): one discloser, one recipient. Template.
- Mutual (bilateral): both sides share and both are bound. Template.
- Employee and contractor NDAs add worker-specific protections such as the DTSA notice. Employee · contractor.
- Investor and interview NDAs handle due diligence and hiring. Investor · interview.
What an NDA is not
It isn’t a non-compete, it doesn’t give you a patent, and it can’t override laws that protect whistleblowers and harassment survivors. See NDA vs non-compete and what an NDA can’t stop.
Sorting those seven cases by hand teaches more than any definition; ahaboo uses the same poke-at-it approach for things like why the Moon appears to change shape over a month.
Do you need one?
If losing control of the information would cost you real money or advantage, yes. If it’s something you’d happily put on your website, an NDA adds friction without protection. The how-to guide walks through deciding.