Do Non-disclosure agreements turn people into gobsh1tes?

Ubbquittious

I was in a pub one time a few years ago. Got chatting to this lad who said he was a programmer. "What language?" I asked. "We're trained to tell people we work with software" he tells me along with some spiel that Apple has him sworn to secrecy. At this point I thought to myself "Well fuck you too then" and I wasn't long disappearing.


For a while after I was wondering does this shagger think he's James Bond or some FBI agent with dark glasses on trying to sound all important. But then I thought maybe this guy genuinely feared losing his job. Maybe he came from some empoverished region of Spain and was the pride of his parish and got a massive send-off from the whole village when he landed a job with a huge megacorp in a foreign country. Obviously if this were the case he didn't want to come back with his tail between his legs to tell everyone he got the boot for telling some randomer in a pub what language he codes in.


What you think folks, how real was this guy's chance of getting the boot?

Grayson

To be fair, apparently apple are cnuts with this sh1t. They are notorious for firing people about NDA's.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I was in a pub one time a few years ago. Got chatting to this lad who said he was a programmer. "What language?" I asked. "We're trained to tell people we work with software" he tells me along with some spiel that Apple has him sworn to secrecy. At this point I thought to myself "Well fuck you too then" and I wasn't long disappearing.


For a while after I was wondering does this shagger think he's James Bond or some FBI agent with dark glasses on trying to sound all important. But then I thought maybe this guy genuinely feared losing his job. Maybe he came from some empoverished region of Spain and was the pride of his parish and got a massive send-off from the whole village when he landed a job with a huge megacorp in a foreign country. Obviously if this were the case he didn't want to come back with his tail between his legs to tell everyone he got the boot for telling some randomer in a pub what language he codes in.


What you think folks, how real was this guy's chance of getting the boot?

He signed a contract and was abiding by it.

Sonics2k

Depending on the job, very likely that they can be sacked and even sued for breaching an NDA.

Even in my company we can do be done for talking about anything specific related to our jobs, in some cases people aren't allowed say the name of the client they're currently working for. It's not even that big of a deal in regards to the clients, but people have been fired for it in the past.

One lad was overheard chatting to his mates about it in the pub, turned out a senior manager was in the same pub and overheard quite a bit of it. A few days later he was shown the door.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Also Apple were working on a new language a few years ago. In-house.

kylith

I used to work for a cash in transit company and wasn’t allowed even to say I did in case I was overheard. We had a couple of Tiger Kidnappings over the years. Far from being cool and mysterious it’s a pain in the arse cos you either have to make up something or say you’ve an NDA and have people think you’re a cnut.

brevity

I suppose it's only natural to feel a bit like James Bond when you've been told that you are working on a super secret project that you can't tell anyone about. I feel like a secret agent when I'm collecting a parcel from a Parcel Motel collection unit.

It's also someone's job and they don't want to risk losing it.

Fr_Dougal

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Also Apple were working on a new language a few years ago. In-house.

Apple have never come up with something new, they just copy others..

gandalf

Depends on the company, what business they are in . The last two companies I worked for had an onerous NDA in place because of the business they were in and they weren't afraid to enforce them either. Therefore I had to say to people I'm sorry I can't answer that. Now I played it off with a joke or the old "I'd have to kill ya if I told ya" remark but in reality I would have lost my job and be open to additional sanctions if I blabbed.

goose2005

Have you ever had a single moment's thought about MY responsibilities?! Have you EVER thought, for a single solitary moment, about my responsibilities to my employers?! Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to not tell anyone about Apple software?! Does it matter to you AT ALL that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility?! Do you have the slightest idea what a moral and ethical principle is?! Do you?! Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?! Has it ever occurred to you?! HAS IT?!

_Dara_

I used to work for a UK government agency and could not talk about my job. Still can’t. It was a pain in the arse, to be honest. And nowhere near as exciting as it sounded. It was still just a job with plenty of tedious bits and stresses.

oceanman

goose2005 wrote: »

Have you ever had a single moment's thought about MY responsibilities?! Have you EVER thought, for a single solitary moment, about my responsibilities to my employers?! Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to not tell anyone about Apple software?! Does it matter to you AT ALL that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility?! Do you have the slightest idea what a moral and ethical principle is?! Do you?! Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?! Has it ever occurred to you?! HAS IT?!

jesus!!!

Donald Trump

Stormy turned into a right cunt after signing hers

Donald Trump

_Dara_ wrote: »

I used to work for a UK government agency and could not talk about my job. Still cant. It was a pain in the arse, to be honest. And nowhere near as exciting as it sounded. It was still just a job with plenty of tedious bits and stresses.

Were you Maggie's official licker-outer?

I'd keep that quiet too if I were you

Donald Trump

gandalf wrote: »

Depends on the company, what business they are in . The last two companies I worked for had an onerous NDA in place because of the business they were in and they weren't afraid to enforce them either. Therefore I had to say to people I'm sorry I can't answer that. Now I played it off with a joke or the old "I'd have to kill ya if I told ya" remark but in reality I would have lost my job and be open to additional sanctions if I blabbed.

Those Kinahan fellas are fairlly strict with the oul' disclosure rules alright

Ten of Swords

goose2005 wrote: »

Have you ever had a single moment's thought about MY responsibilities?! Have you EVER thought, for a single solitary moment, about my responsibilities to my employers?! Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to not tell anyone about Apple software?! Does it matter to you AT ALL that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility?! Do you have the slightest idea what a moral and ethical principle is?! Do you?! Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?! Has it ever occurred to you?! HAS IT?!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

topper75

brevity wrote: »

I suppose it's only natural to feel a bit like James Bond when you've been told that you are working on a super secret project that you can't tell anyone about. I feel like a secret agent when I'm collecting a parcel from a Parcel Motel collection unit.

It's also someone's job and they don't want to risk losing it.

I thought it was only me who did that...
"Target acquired, repeat, target acquired", he said, speaking lowly into his wristwatch.

jimgoose

Very real indeed. Big tech companies have been using NDAs for as long as I can remember, and are usually quite serious about them, and none more so than Apple. You'd also be surprised what's considered commercially sensitive these days.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Apple have never come up with something new, they just copy others..

Nonsense.