Export Controls Decision Tree 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)?

YES           NO

Note 1

A reminder about NDAs and similar confidentiality agreements:

Dartmouth 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 recipient. NDAs may include licensing agreements which limit or prohibit the disclosure or transfer of the licensed data or materials.

NDAs and similar confidentiality agreements are permissible ONLY to the extent that they meet the requirements of Dartmouth's research policies. That is, the information must be entirely peripheral to the research program (sufficiently remote from the intellectually significant portions of the research) and the disclosure restriction must not affect the ability to publish the research results.

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.

If you have any questions about this, or if you are asked to sign such an agreement, contact the Technology Transfer Office and ask for a review of the agreement.

For additional information on NDAs and Dartmouth's research policy, visit the Technology Transfer Office website on policies and agreements.