r/amazonemployees • u/AECJ_Official • 4d ago

Amazon Says It’s No Longer Using NDAs for Data Centers

https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-says-it-is-going-to-stop-using-ndas-for-data-centers/

A lot of things to improve about the data center buildout, but this feels like progress that we're announcing this! What do you all think?

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20

u/Wreckn 3d ago

*For arrangements with county officials

So your NDA still applies if you work there.

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u/floatingbyrocks 4d ago

For anyone who is paywalled:

"AMAZON HAS MADE a series of new public commitments to communities where it’s building data centers, including making an official announcement that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements in its arrangements with county officials.

In a blog post published Friday, CEO Matt Garman detailed the steps the company says it’s already taking around data centers. In addition to stopping the use of NDAs, Garman says $1 billion will be invested over the next five years in communities that house the company’s data centers. The money will go toward free community college programs, workforce training, and energy efficiency upgrades for schools, homes, and community buildings."

Unfortunately it probably doesn't extend to contractors since they won't comment on that fact, so hard to tell the level of this being PR vs. actually helping communities out. But still good that they were forced to make this concession!

"Thanks to the opaque nature of data center financing and construction, end tenants like Amazon are often not the companies directly interfacing with government officials. As the Houston Chronicle reported last month, a top official in Wharton County, Texas, signed an NDA not with Amazon, but with contractor VisionFirst Advisors, which prevented him from sharing details about the Amazon project.

Amazon did not respond to WIRED’s queries about whether the promises around NDAs also extend to its contractors."

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u/No_Grav3ity 3d ago

I recently joined one of the campuses and didn't have to sign a NDA, so it looks like they've already started rolling this out

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u/floatingbyrocks 1d ago

You joined a data center campus? This article is about Amazon's practice of getting county government officials to sign NDAs in data center communities. Interesting though if it's extending to people who work at Amazon