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An intern non-disclosure agreement is a contract in which an intern agrees to keep confidential information private during their placement and for an agreed time afterwards.
Interns often see more than people assume. They sit in meetings, work on live projects, and have access to systems and documents, sometimes with less onboarding than a permanent hire would receive.
The agreement exists to make expectations explicit rather than assumed. Someone early in their career may genuinely not know which things are sensitive, and a clear document is more useful than hoping they will work it out.
It should be proportionate. An intern is not a senior executive, and an agreement written as though they were tends to be signed without being read, which defeats the purpose entirely.
Have an intern non-disclosure agreement signed at the start of the placement, before access is granted. Typical situations include:
Where an educational institution is involved, check what they require first. Schools and universities frequently have their own agreements or approval processes for placements, and those may govern or need to sit alongside yours.
This is the part that actually protects the information, and it is the step most often skipped.
Walk through it with them. Ten minutes explaining what is confidential, why it matters, and what to do if they are unsure is worth more than any clause, particularly for someone in their first professional role.
Give concrete examples. Telling an intern not to post screenshots of internal dashboards, not to discuss unreleased features with friends, and not to save files to a personal account is clearer than a definition of confidential information.
Say who to ask. Interns get into difficulty when they are unsure and do not want to look uninformed, so naming a specific person removes that problem.
Tip: Cover what happens after the placement ends too. Interns frequently want to write about the experience, and a short conversation about what they may and may not say is fairer than leaving them to guess.
An intern is building a record, and an agreement that damages that record is both unfair and usually counterproductive.
Let them describe the experience. Saying what they worked on in general terms on a CV, an application, or a professional profile is normal and reasonable, and an agreement that forbids it puts them in an impossible position.
Deal with portfolios explicitly. Design, writing, and development interns may reasonably want to show work later. Agree in advance what can be shown, whether it needs anonymising, and who approves it, rather than refusing outright.
Keep the duration proportionate. Long post-placement obligations on ordinary information are hard to justify for someone who was there for a summer.
Avoid non-compete style restrictions. Preventing an intern from working in their chosen field afterwards is a serious restriction on someone at the start of a career, and such clauses are treated with particular scepticism in many places.
Tip: Offer to review a portfolio piece or a CV line if they ask. It costs almost nothing and turns a restriction into a working relationship.
Keep it short and readable. An intern non-disclosure agreement that runs to six pages of dense clauses will not be read.
The organisation, the intern, the department, and the placement dates.
Specific categories in plain language, with examples where helpful.
Public information, general skills and knowledge they acquire, and anything they knew already.
That information is used only for the placement work.
Practical points: company devices and accounts only, no personal cloud storage, no photographs of screens or whiteboards.
What may and may not be posted, stated plainly.
How long the obligation continues after the placement.
Returning equipment and deleting files at the end.
Signed and dated by the intern, and by a parent or guardian where the intern is under 18.
An intern non-disclosure agreement takes about twenty minutes. Document Genius walks you through each section with simple questions.
Confirm whether a school or university has its own paperwork.
Name real categories rather than claiming everything.
Aim for something a first-year student reads once and understands.
Say what they may show and describe afterwards.
Match it to the sensitivity of what they actually saw.
Talk it through before signature. Start yours now and have it ready today.
A few situations need extra care.
Where the intern is a minor, contracts with under-18s are treated differently in many places, and a parent or guardian countersignature is commonly required. Take advice on what applies where you are.
Where the placement involves regulated data — health records, financial data, or children’s information — sector rules may impose obligations well beyond a general NDA, and those apply regardless of what the intern signs.
Where the internship is unpaid, be aware that whether an unpaid placement is lawful depends on the arrangement and on local employment rules. That question is separate from confidentiality but often arises alongside it.
An NDA also cannot prevent an intern reporting suspected illegal conduct, harassment, or safety concerns to the appropriate authority. Nothing in a confidentiality agreement should be understood, or drafted, to discourage that.
Nothing here is legal advice, and no rule on minors’ contracts, unpaid internships, data protection, or enforceability is stated anywhere on this page. Have an employment lawyer in your jurisdiction review your standard form.
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