Some of the work of the Integrity Institute will involve speaking with individuals who may be subject to confidentiality agreements with their current or former employers. In addition, some of our employees and consultants may themselves be subject to confidentiality agreements based on having worked for tech companies in the past.
For this reason, it is important to state that the Integrity Institute does not want individuals to violate their confidentiality agreements in connection with their work with us. We only want to receive information that can be provided to the Integrity Institute without any violation of law. When former and current employees provide confidential information to the Integrity Institute, they create a risk of legal action against both the Integrity Institute and the employees themselves. We can achieve our objective of improving the social media environment without violating confidentiality agreements.
In order to assist you in your work and to answer any questions about confidential information that you may have, we have prepared this short policy statement on the subject of confidential information to which you may refer. If you have questions about a specific issue that is not directly addressed by this agreement, or about which you would like additional guidance, please contact the staff (at time of writing: Sahar Massachi or Jeff Allen) so that we can answer your question. Exceptions to this policy based on compensating factors may be made by staff if appropriate.
Tech workers probably have confidentiality agreements
When you first speak to an individual who is a current or former employee of (or consultant to) a tech company, you should assume that they have signed a confidentiality agreement. You should inform the individual that such an agreement may have provisions that limit the employee’s ability to disclose confidential information (absent written authorization). You should ask them to provide only information that is not covered by their confidentiality agreement.
What is confidential information?
Each confidentiality agreement will be worded differently and so there is no single, uniform definition of confidential information. In most agreements, the term is defined broadly to include a host of proprietary information, including but not limited to:
Technical data
Trade secrets
Research and development information
Information about products and product planning
Employee and customer lists
Financial data, budgets, marketing, and pricing information
Technology, engineering, and information about hardware and software
These are just a few key examples of what might constitute confidential information under an agreement. If the information relates to the actual or anticipated business or products of the company, then the information is likely confidential as defined by the individual’s employment or consulting agreement.
What information may I receive as a part of the Institute?
While each confidentiality agreement will differ somewhat in their requirements, some categories of information are not ordinarily covered by confidentiality agreements. For example, the following information should generally be safe for individuals to disclose:
Personal facts about themselves and their background.
Any facts learned before the person began work at their firm.
General opinions about the tech industry or other matters.
In addition, to the extent that information was confidential at one time but is now publicly known, that information is likely no longer covered by a confidentiality agreement. As a result, information learned while serving as an employee or consultant can lose its confidential status over time as that information is disclosed to the public.
For example, the existence of a new product or new feature of an existing product will be confidential before it is announced to the public by the company. Once it is publicly announced, its existence may no longer constitute confidential information. At that point, it is likely that the employee can discuss the existence of the product or feature without violating their agreement.
What are some permissible activities?
Even given the ubiquity of confidentiality agreements, there are still many permitted activities in which former and current employees can engage when dealing with or working for the Integrity Institute. The following activities will generally be permissible:
General discussions about news of the day
General discussions of integrity concepts
Giving a presentation to a tech company, including a training session.
Inviting current and former employees and consultants to events, such as public lectures, social gatherings or private retreats (so long as there is no objection from or prohibition by a current employer and no confidential information is provided by the current and former employee/consultant at those events)
Writing articles with the Institute (so long as they do not involve the disclosure of confidential information or violate an agreement).
Working with other advocacy groups or academics to discuss research projects and public policy.
Collecting public information for purposes of research or article writing.
What types of activities could be problematic?
Any activities that involve the sharing of confidential information could raise a problem. You should confer with the staff (Sahar Massachi or Jeff Allen at time of writing) before discussing this type of information with current or former tech company employees or consultants.
Information about new developments provided by employees about their current employers, such as new teams, new products or rejected products.
Information about research and development activities that are not public.
Details about how the platforms work, except to the extent that the information is already public.
Business plans or financial data.
Technical information of any kind.
One way to think about this issue is that if the information you are seeking to obtain from a current or former employee would be useful to a business that is in competition with their employer, then the information is probably confidential and should not be solicited by the Institute. In addition, current employees are generally not permitted to disparage their employers, to whom they owe a duty of loyalty.
