How to protect yourself from unauthorized disclosure of confidential information?

Probably everyone has heard of the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) or in simple language "confidentiality agreement". But whether this tool works in Ukraine is another question.

In our own experience, we are convinced that it is possible to defend the violated rights when disclosing confidential information!

Recently, BARGEN's lawyers made a positive decision to recover damages in favor of our client in the amount of about UAH 280,000, in connection with the disclosure of confidential information by a person on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The bottom line: our client is an IT company that has entered into a confidentiality agreement (NDA) with the contractor. In the agreement, the parties defined a list of information, the disclosure of which is prohibited. Instead, the contractor breached its obligations and disclosed confidential information about previous sales of the product and the company's partners on personal Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

During the trial, we proved that our client suffered losses in the form of unearned income (lost profits) because as a result of disclosure of information, our client's counterparty decided to terminate its cooperation with the IT company and terminated the contract, which cost $ 10,000. It was this amount of lost profits that the court collected in favor of our client.

Also in this lawsuit for the first time The method of providing evidence was used, such as reviewing the personal pages of the defendant on the social networks Facebook and LinkedIn. and a direct review of the messages in which the defendant disseminated confidential information. Since it took time, it was decided to fix the web pages with a notary in the country where it is allowed.

Therefore, we share practical tips:

What is recognized as confidential information?
How to protect yourself from unauthorized disclosure?
What can be the means of influencing the discloser?

Any information can be confidential, access to which is restricted to a natural or legal person. This can be commercial information of the enterprise, contact details of customers, partners, suppliers, prices, etc. Example, the company may prohibit the counterparty from using information about its customers for 3 years after the termination of cooperation.
In order to protect confidential information it must first be given that status. This may be provided for in a separate provision or procedure that will determine the list, procedure for use and consequences of the disclosure of confidential information. In addition, we recommend that you enter into a separate confidentiality agreement with the individuals, which also provide for the use of such information and sanctions for breach of contract.
In case of violation of the terms of the agreement, it is necessary to apply to the court for compensation for damages caused by such disclosure. In our case, the amount was confirmed by the value of the contract, which was terminated due to disclosure.

The NDA may provide for liability for disclosure of information in the form of a fine. This method is simpler because you do not need to justify the amount separately.

Proper execution of the procedure for working with confidential information is an effective tool that will protect against its disclosure and allow you to recover damages from the person guilty of disclosure.