A nondisclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement, California confidential disclosure agreement, proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes but wish to restrict access to or by third parties. It is a contract through which the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information or trade secrets. As such, an NDA protects non-public business information. These are commonly signed when two companies, individuals, or other entities, such as partnerships or societies, are considering doing business and need to understand the processes used in each other's business for the purpose of evaluating the potential business relationship. The NDA can be mutual, meaning both parties are restricted in their use of the materials provided, or they can restrict the use of material by a single party. It is also possible for an employee to sign an NDA or NDA-like agreement with an employer. In fact, some employment agreements will include the clause restricting employees' use and dissemination of company-owned confidential information. A nondisclosure agreement (NDA) may be classified as unilateral, bilateral, or multilateral. A unilateral NDA, sometimes referred to as a one-way NDA, involves two parties where only one party, the disclosing party, anticipates disclosing certain information to the other party, the receiving party, and requires that the information be protected from further disclosure for some reason. For example, maintaining the secrecy necessary to satisfy patent laws or legal protection for trade secrets, limiting disclosure of information prior to issuing a press release for a major announcement, or simply ensuring that...