Confidentiality Agreement Laws

Information shared during certain relationships is kept confidential by law whether or not a confidentiality agreement is in place. These privileges are made for public policy reasons and exist whether the person sharing the information is aware of the privilege or not. For instance, a doctor generally must keep all information a patient tells him in strict confidence even if the patient is unaware the doctor has this duty.

Laws

Doctors are generally required to keep any information they have acquired from a patient during treatment confidential. Likewise, a psychologist must not share any information a patient shares with him during consultation that is confidential in nature. Attorneys are also generally required to keep information a client discloses to them confidential. Married couple have similar privileges. Specifically, any confidential communications made between spouses during marriage and in reliance of that intimate relationship, are protected by law and either spouse can prevent the other spouse from revealing the information even if the couple has divorced.
Some states also extend these privileges to accountants and clergy. In those states, information shared with an accountant or clergy member must be kept confidential by the accountant or clergy member.
Most notably is the right to avoid self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment, also known as the privilege against self-incrimination, protects anyone who is asked a question and his response might furnish the police with evidence they need to prosecute and arrest him. In other words, the Fifth Amendment allows you to keep confidential information about yourself private if that information could lead to your own arrest.

Purpose

Confidentiality privileges are created for public policy reasons. For instance, doctors are bound to keep patient information private so a patient may feel completely at ease in telling his doctor everything the doctor needs to know in order to properly diagnose and treat the patient. Similarly, attorneys are bound to keep client communications confidential to ensure a client will tell his attorney everything the attorney needs to know so the attorney can zealously and competently represent the client.

Benefits

In the event the party who was bound to keep the information confidential shares the information, the other party may be able sue him or her to recover any damages sustained as a result of the information being shared. Additionally, if the information is shared during a legal proceeding, the evidence presented may be stricken from the record and in some instances, a mistrial may be granted.

Privilege Considerations

Confidentiality agreements inferred through law and public policy, such as those existing between doctors and their clients, are not absolute. With respect to lawyers, any communication made by the client to the lawyer that is confidential in nature and made during consultation must be kept confidential. However, this privilege does not apply if the client subsequently sues the attorney or the client was seeking the attorney's service for illegal purposes.
With respect to doctors, only information acquired during treatment and information that is necessary for treatment must be kept private. However, in some states, if the patient's condition is an issue in the lawsuit, the privilege is waived and the information is not confidential. Likewise if a doctor is examining a patient at an attorney's request, any information learned will not be privileged.
With respect to clergy, the clergy member who receives the confidential information must be in a position where he or she regularly receives such confidential information and the religion must require such secrecy.

Privileges v. Confidentiality Agreements

Confidentiality agreements, also known as Non-Disclosure Agreements, are contracts that prevent two or more parties from sharing certain information known to each of them. Confidentiality agreements are most commonly used when the parties are dealing with unpatented inventions but they are applicable in any situation where one party wishes to protect confidential information and a privilege does not already bind the party to secrecy.