THE CAMPAIGN GOAL
Our goal is to effect legislative and regulatory changes, so that Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are unenforceable for anything other than their original purpose.
This purpose was to prevent the unauthorized sharing of confidential business information (“intellectual property”) and trade secrets.
NDAs are currently used by powerful entities to hide harmful information or illegal practices, in order to protect reputations or maintain the status quo.
Legislators and regulators must speed up reform. Can’t Buy My Silence exists to make sure this issue stays firmly on their radar!
OUR STRATEGY
Our campaign will focus on 4 strategies.
Lobbying government to recognise that NDAs are currently being used to create dangerous environments and that the law needs to be changed
Building public awareness of the immoral use of NDAs and give people the information and power to say “no” to signing.
Advocating that regulators, businesses and institutions adopt a code of practice that will not allow NDAs to hide information about harmful people, practices and products.
Providing a safe platform for people who have been pressured to sign an NDA to anonymously step forward and share how it has affected them.
WHO WE ARE
JULIE MACFARLANE
Professor Julie Macfarlane is a Canadian law professor, Member of the Order of Canada, who has won many awards for her work in advocating for access to justice. In 2016, in her personal negotiations with the Anglican Church, she persuaded the Church and their insurer to end the default practice of forcing NDAs on victims of clerical abuse. Later that year, she discovered that a colleague terminated following an investigation for harassment and other misconduct was protected by an NDA that had been negotiated before his departure from the University of Windsor, and that he had been able to move to another law school who knew nothing of his history. The University continued to hide the facts in the NDA enabling the perpetrator to successfully sue her for “defamation”.
CEO & Founder Canada
PARTNERS
Below are some of our amazing partners who we are working with to realise the goals of the Can’t Buy My Silence campaign.
SPEAK OUT REVOLUTION
Data Insights Partner
Speak Out Revolution is an award winning not-for-profit, founded in 2020, with a mission to cancel the culture of silence on harassment and bullying in our workplaces. They provide a safe platform for targets of workplace harassment and bullying to anonymously speak out via their Speak Out Dashboard and use the collective insights to raise awareness, educate and empower everyone to become allies for more inclusive work environments. Find out more about their work at speakoutrevolution.co.uk. You can help us collect information on the prevalence of NDAs as well as bullying and harassment by completing our survey here.
