What is a one-way NDA?

Learn what one-way NDAs are, and how digital signatures can help you safely share confidential information with your business partners.

Modern businesses of all sizes often need to hire other companies or contractors for special expertise. But that typically means you will have to share sensitive business information with those partners. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) can help give your business secrets the legal protection they need.

There are many different kinds of NDAs for various needs. One of the most common types is a one-way NDA. Read on to learn what a one-way NDA is and how you can easily request your business partners to sign it with e-signatures.

Protect your business information with a one-way NDA.

NDAs are agreements that seek to protect sensitive information from leaks or other inappropriate disclosures. They can cover client names and addresses, product specifications, software code, market research data, or any other business information you don’t want your competitors to know about. An NDA specifies what information the signers can’t share with others.

Every NDA has disclosing parties, who provide sensitive information, and receiving parties, who get access to that information. When an NDA has only one disclosing and one receiving party, it’s called a one-way NDA.

A one-way NDA is the simplest NDA type. It prohibits the receiver from sharing confidential business information with third parties and determines the consequences of doing so. This type of NDA is especially useful when you’re hiring contractors or freelancers for special projects.

Sign NDAs quickly with e-signatures.

You should always have all of your partners sign an NDA before they begin working. This means that, especially with time-sensitive projects, you need to get their signatures quickly. Using PDF contracts with e-signatures can save you valuable time and money.

E-signatures, or electronic signatures, are just as legal as handwritten ones. A good e-signature software, like Adobe Acrobat Sign, lets you quickly request signatures from your partners with a single mouse click. You can also track the signature process and send reminders if it seems they have missed your earlier messages.

Find out more ways Acrobat Sign can help you get vital signatures for NDAs and other types of contracts.