Question 4
Did an external sponsor, vendor, collaborator or other third party provide the item, information or software to be shared, shipped, hand carried, transmitted or transferred under a Non-Disclosure Agreement or a Confidentiality Agreement(1) ?
Note 1
A reminder about NDAs and similar confidentiality agreements:
Faculty may be asked to accept confidential, proprietary, or export controlled data or material as part of a research project subject to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed by both the discloser and the authorized signatory for the University of Oregon, as recipient. NDAs typically include terms and conditions which limit or prohibit the disclosure or transfer of the data or materials shared with you and the University of Oregon.
NDAs and similar confidentiality agreements are permissible but must be negotiated and signed by Industry, Innovation, and Translation (IIT) for research related materials, Purchasing and Contracting for vendor relationships, or may be embedded in the terms of a sponsored research agreement managed by Sponsored Project Services. UO’s General Counsel is an additional resource for review of NDAs that don’t fit squarely within the services of the units above.
In addition, if you accept confidential or proprietary information subject to a Confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreement, and the disclosure restrictions affect your ability to publish research results, the research itself will lose its characterization as "fundamental research" for export control purposes. Should the research entail information or software identified on US export control lists, and you wish to have foreign nationals participate in the research, you may be required to obtain an export license.
Of course, if the confidential data pertains to such information as personal health, income, or other demographic data that does not have a strategic significance (and is thus not identified on US export control lists), then export control restrictions on foreign national participation would not apply, but these agreements are subject to the same University of Oregon approval and signature process in order to manage applicable regulations such as FERPA, HIPPA, COPPA and others.
If you have any questions about this, or if you are asked to sign such an agreement, email techtran@uoregon.edu and ask for a review of the agreement.
For additional information on NDAs and University of Oregon research policy, visit the Industry, Innovation, and Translation (IIT) page on "Agreements" or contact techtran@uoregon.edu.