Contract trap · Any contract
Overbroad perpetual NDA
'Confidential Information' means any information in any form, marked or not, forever, with no carve-outs; the existence of the agreement is secret; bundled with non-disparagement, review-gag clauses with liquidated damages, pay-secrecy, 'residuals' and fixed penalties per breach — in employment, freelance and consumer terms alike.
- Severity
- Serious
- How often it turns up
- Regular
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 23
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- any and all information
- whether or not marked confidential
- in perpetuity
- the existence and terms of this Agreement
- Residuals
- you agree not to make any disparaging statements
- non-disparagement
- you agree not to post negative reviews
- liquidated damages of $
- you assign to us all rights in any review or feedback
- shall not disclose the terms of your compensation
- injunctive relief without bond
In Russian-language contracts
- любая информация, полученная в ходе сотрудничества
- бессрочно
- без ограничения срока
- факт заключения настоящего договора является конфиденциальным
- не разглашать размер заработной платы
- обязуется не распространять негативную информацию о Компании
- не размещать отрицательные отзывы
- сведения, порочащие деловую репутацию
- штраф за каждый факт разглашения
- независимо от наличия грифа
- обязательство сохраняется в течение 10 лет после прекращения
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
You cannot know what you may say for the rest of your career; companies have billed customers thousands for a bad review (KlearGear $3,500); gags have suppressed harassment and whistleblowing reports; one-sided NDAs protect only the drafter.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
In the US, unconscionability and the FTC Act §5 bar on unfair and deceptive practices are the general backstops; in the EU and the UK, consumer standard terms are tested under Directive 93/13 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
United States
Consumer Review Fairness Act (2016) voids review gags in form contracts; FTC Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (2024); DTSA 18 U.S.C. §1833(b) whistleblower-immunity notice; Speak Out Act (2022); NLRA §7 and NLRB McLaren Macomb (2023) on wage-discussion and severance gags; SEC Rule 21F-17 (J.P. Morgan $18M 2024, D.E. Shaw $10M 2023); overbroad NDAs narrowed by courts.
- Cited
- 18 U.S.C. §1833
- Consumer Review Fairness Act
- FTC
- NLRA §7
- NLRB
- SEC
- Speak Out Act
European Union
Trade Secrets Directive 2016/943 protects genuine secrets only; Whistleblower Directive 2019/1937 Art 24 — rights cannot be waived; Pay Transparency Directive 2023/970 Art 7(5) bans contractual pay secrecy (transposition by 7 June 2026); 93/13 Art 3/Annex (q) and Charter Art 11 for consumer gags; perpetual NDAs for non-secret information cut to a reasonable period (DE).
- Cited
- Directive 2016/943
- Directive 2019/193
- Directive 2023/970
United Kingdom
Enforceable if reasonable; cannot cover public information or general skill; ERA 1996 s.43J voids terms precluding protected disclosures; Equality Act 2010 s.77 pay-secrecy terms unenforceable; CRA 2015 s.62 and CMA37 treat consumer 'gagging' clauses as unfair; DMCC Act 2024 review provisions.
- Cited
- CMA37
- CRA 2015 s.62
- DMCC Act 2024
- Equality Act 2010
- ERA 1996 s.43J
Russia
NDA работает только при установленном режиме коммерческой тайны (98-ФЗ ст. 10); зарплата и условия труда не могут быть коммерческой тайной (ст. 5 98-ФЗ); фиксированный штраф снижается по ст. 333 ГК; для работников доп. обязанности только в рамках ТК (ст. 57); ст. 29 Конституции, ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 13 ЗоЗПП — запрет правдивых отзывов ничтожен, защита только от недостоверных порочащих сведений (ст. 152 ГК).
- Cited
- 98-ФЗ
- ст. 10
- ст. 152 ГК
- ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 13 ЗоЗПП
- ст. 29
- ст. 333 ГК
- ст. 5
- ст. 57
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- KlearGear — $3,500 'non-disparagement' fee charged to a Utah couple (2013); federal court awarded them $306,750 (2014), leading to the Consumer Review Fairness Act 2016
- NLRB, McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023)
- SEC v. J.P. Morgan Securities (Jan 2024) — $18M under Rule 21F-17
- Speak Out Act, Pub. L. 117-224 (2022)
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Make it mutual
- Define confidential information as marked or reasonably identifiable with the standard carve-outs (public, already known, independently developed, legally compelled, whistleblowing)
- Limit to 2-3 years except trade secrets
- Delete residuals, non-disparagement, pay-secrecy and fixed penalties
- US: review gags are void under the Consumer Review Fairness Act — report to the FTC
- RU: без режима коммерческой тайны (98-ФЗ ст. 10) штраф обычно не взыскивается, а правдивые отзывы запретить нельзя.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.