Spelling Deontology and Honesty

I find it rather arrogant that professionals tell me, 'Oh, but there's deontology. We're bound to secrecy, and you could sue us if we betrayed you. There's no need for a Confidentiality Agreement, you see.'

Yes, I see.

I see that if I were to be betrayed, I'd have to hire a solicitor to sue whoever had spilled the beans, and since the culprit would be working for a huge company with a gazillion of solicitors, I'd be - pardon my French - screwed.

I mean, we can't even trust solicitors (Chris Gossage and Judith Callegari anyone? I just can't forget about that betrayal).

And that's why Confidentiality Agreements/Non-Disclosure Agreements were invented, because if the deontology-bound biped that you were supposed to trust goes blabbing about your secrets, the signed agreement does take you to court, but the judge automatically rules in your favour. There's no escape for the traitor; he or she gets to give you money because he or she couldn't keep his or her mouth shut, and it's only fair that you get compensation for being stabbed in the back - and it's only fair to not have to fight in court and have to prove that the betrayal is having consequences on your activity.

If some bipeds were not such despicable creatures, yes, we could trust one another, but since it's obviously not the case, signed agreements are a must (sad, but true).

Needless to say, I won't work with people I don't know who ask me to trust them, but who offer no guarantee whatsoever (if you sign an NDA, and you do not blab, there's nothing to lose). 

Better safe than sorry, as my grandmother used to say.