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Poll: For how long do you keep a copy of non-disclosure agreements you've signed?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Sep 9, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "For how long do you keep a copy of non-disclosure agreements you've signed?".

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Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:01
Member
English to French
Forever Sep 9, 2020

in the same drawer as my 56kbps modem, answering machine and minitel.

Philippe


expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Christopher Schröder
Zibow Retailleau
Kevin Fulton
José Guedes
Ventnai
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:01
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Sep 9, 2020

I usually keep them until I happen to notice that no work has materialized. I have lost count of all the NDAs I have signed over the years. I must say that I’ve been working with most of my long-standing customers with no NDA whatsoever…

Thayenga
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Josephine Cassar
neilmac
Tina Vonhof (X)
rothig
Philip Lees
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
and ever Sep 9, 2020

Like Philippe, I just can't bring myself to part with a single one. But one drawer is not enough. Mine are all printed out, with all the important sections highlighted in pink, and each time I get a job from a specific customer I read through their NDA twice, once before I start the job, and again when I've completed it, to make sure I'm complying with absolutely everything.

They're all filed away in locked cabinets in alphabetical order by customer in a special room I had built spe
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Like Philippe, I just can't bring myself to part with a single one. But one drawer is not enough. Mine are all printed out, with all the important sections highlighted in pink, and each time I get a job from a specific customer I read through their NDA twice, once before I start the job, and again when I've completed it, to make sure I'm complying with absolutely everything.

They're all filed away in locked cabinets in alphabetical order by customer in a special room I had built specially by a specialist specialising in special rooms. You wouldn't think there was a room there at all, but at the touch of a cleverly concealed button a panel moves smoothly and noiselessly to one side, and voilà. This is because I'm not actually at liberty to disclose the existence of certain NDAs, so you'll appreciate that I have to be quite discreet about this special room.
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Alix Paupy
expressisverbis
Christopher Schröder
texjax DDS PhD
Jennifer White
Noni Gilbert Riley
Christel Zipfel
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Why keep them? Sep 9, 2020

What aspect of the non-disclosure would you need to check on?

The not telling anyone or the not telling anyone?


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
I can't ... Sep 9, 2020

... tell anyone that, I'm afraid.

Christopher Schröder
Kay Denney
P.L.F. Persio
Muriel Vasconcellos
Andreas Kjeldsen
 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:01
Serbian to English
+ ...
Jokes aside ... Sep 9, 2020

IF these NDAs are relevant at all (i.e. if any actual work did materialise!) you should keep them as long as there is ANY possibility that you could need them - look at statutes of limitation for potential legal actions against you in relation with the translations you provided. That would be the logic of a lawyer ...

expressisverbis
Becca Resnik
Elisa Paglia
María José Domínguez Camba
 
Maria da Glória Teixeira
Maria da Glória Teixeira  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 16:01
Member (2020)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Normally Sep 9, 2020

Usually I save, on the computer in the document folder. In case I need it, just print it.

[Editada em 2020-09-09 13:05 GMT]


Paul Lambert
Aline Amorim
Elena Feriani
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Sep 9, 2020

I rarely have to sign NDAs nowadays, but I suppose there will always be a copy on whichever folder I've left it in. I don't tend to clear out my files very often. Or look at that kind of thing, or think about it.
Today, I discovered that a client sent me work at the end of July which I didn't receive, and they were also sending me e-mails about work from the beginning of September which were going into my spam folder, which I always forget to look at as well. I only found out today when th
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I rarely have to sign NDAs nowadays, but I suppose there will always be a copy on whichever folder I've left it in. I don't tend to clear out my files very often. Or look at that kind of thing, or think about it.
Today, I discovered that a client sent me work at the end of July which I didn't receive, and they were also sending me e-mails about work from the beginning of September which were going into my spam folder, which I always forget to look at as well. I only found out today when the client phoned me, worried that something serious might have happened (for example, COVID...).
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Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 16:01
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Forever Sep 9, 2020

I have all my backups saved in some kind of media. I never throw documents away. They actually lose their validity five years after the termination/expiry date, but we're no longer dealing with paper only. Paper goes to the garbage after five years, but electronic media can be kept forever without representing any cost or trouble. Why throw it away? It's history and it may be useful in the future for several reasons.

expressisverbis
Becca Resnik
rothig
Aline Amorim
Vanina Guarnieri
 
Luiz Barucke
Luiz Barucke  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 16:01
Spanish to Portuguese
+ ...
Forever... so far Sep 10, 2020

But I must say I never needed to check or use any of them.

Christopher Schröder
Paul Lambert
Giuliana Maltempo
María José Domínguez Camba
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 20:01
French to English
. Sep 10, 2020

neilmac wrote:

I rarely have to sign NDAs nowadays, but I suppose there will always be a copy on whichever folder I've left it in. I don't tend to clear out my files very often. Or look at that kind of thing, or think about it.
Today, I discovered that a client sent me work at the end of July which I didn't receive, and they were also sending me e-mails about work from the beginning of September which were going into my spam folder, which I always forget to look at as well. I only found out today when the client phoned me, worried that something serious might have happened (for example, COVID...).

Oh well that's reassuring. If anything happens to you, a client will react a couple of months later and your corpse will still have identifying features to it so you will be identified.
They weren't even chasing up the translation? or did they just assign it to someone else when they got no reaction from you?


I have only once signed an NDA, and then after a day of training decided that I definitely did not want to work with that client (they hired me for translation and it turned out to be PEMT, and I was to use the most user-hostile interface ever - no thank you!). I deleted everything from my laptop as soon as I had informed the client that I was withdrawing from the project. Obviously I wasn't to keep any of their confidential data, I saw no reason to keep the NDA either since I no longer had their data on my laptop.
So I suppose my answer to the question would be "for as long as it's applicable". I expect if I were to actually perform work bound by an NDA I would keep it forever, along with the bills and any other admin stuff.


 
Nikolay Novitskiy
Nikolay Novitskiy  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 00:01
Member (2018)
English to Russian
Forever in a secure place Sep 10, 2020

One day a burglar with a gun broke into my house. They wanted me to give them my signed NDAs, but I boldly refused. I got 20 bullets into my head, but I protected the precious NDAs. Now I keep them in a well secured place, guarded by deadly traps and auto turrets.

Christopher Schröder
Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 20:01
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Does an NDA set out anything you wouldn't do anyway? Sep 10, 2020

Yes, I still have all mine on paper in a folder marked "Contracts with Clients", but I have never had to refer to them.
That said, with or without an NDA I will naturally keep confidential any customer's details.

I might simply keep scans in the computer in digital form for now on. I am trying to cut down on the amount of paper at the desk.


Christopher Schröder
writeaway
Maria da Glória Teixeira
Giuliana Maltempo
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Or you could try hiding them in plain sight Sep 10, 2020

Nikolay Novitskiy wrote:

One day a burglar with a gun broke into my house. They wanted me to give them my signed NDAs, but I boldly refused. I got 20 bullets into my head, but I protected the precious NDAs. Now I keep them in a well secured place, guarded by deadly traps and auto turrets.


I have mine framed and display them on my office wall alongside those photos of me receiving my knighthood from Ronald Reagan and my PhD from Kim Kardashian.

While obviously ensuring they don’t crowd my precious original tennis girl poster:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Girl

That way they’re also readily available for emergency consultation if I ever feel an urge to share America’s nuclear codes with Kim.

Whaddaya mean, which Kim?


Mervyn Henderson (X)
P.L.F. Persio
Muriel Vasconcellos
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Nikolay Novitskiy
 
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Poll: For how long do you keep a copy of non-disclosure agreements you've signed?






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