合同中必然包含某个交易，而交易过程中双方的信息交流是经常性的，有些信息对于一方来说可能具有经济价值或其他价值而不宜向公众公开，而只能在一定范围内透露或使用，因此产生了保密条款甚至专门的保密协议存在的必要性。
为了保护这些有价值的信息，在英美国家，人们可以依靠普通法或者商业秘密法令的救济。但是，若一方向另一方提供信息是基于合同约定的义务或者与契约上的安排有关，那么，为防止此等信息出现未经授权的使用或被公开，合同中通常会包含“保密条款”。
保密条款的功能至少包括下列几项：
1. 在英美国家，它能为普通法或商业秘密法令保护范围未能涵盖的救济的信息提供保护，在中国，它同样也能对该等尚未取得知识产权法保护的信息提供契约上的保护；
2. 可以为一方设定保守其从另一方所获信息之秘密的义务;
3. 有助于公开信息的一方证明，为保护其专有信息它已经尽到了合理努力。
在所有订立“保密条款”或“保密协议”情形中，签约方的唯一目的就是保护一方向另一方所提供的信息之机密性。通常，包含“保密条款”的合同有：劳动合同，咨询协议，股份买卖协议，意向书，合营企业协议，许可协议，贷款协议以及和解协议。
(一）条款范例
【例1】
CONFIDENTIALITY
Section X, 01. Definitions.
(a) Confidential Information. “Confidential Information” means
(i) all information relating in any manner to the Company or its business (including， but not limited to, financial statements, budgets and projections, customer identities, potential customers, employees, suppliers，servicing methods, equipment, programs，strategies, analyses，profit margins and other proprietary information) , however documented，that has been，or may later be
(A) provided or shown to the Recipient or any of its Representatives by or on behalf of the Company [ or any of its Representatives ] ; or
(B) obtained from review of documents or property of, or communications with, the Company [ or its Representatives ] by the Recipient or its Representatives ；
and
(ii) any and all notes, analyses, compilations, studies，summaries，and other material ，however documented，containing or based，in whole or in part，on any information included in subsection (a) (collectively, the “Derivative Materials”）.
(b)Exceptions to Definition of “ Confidential Information. ” Despite the definition of "Confidential Information” set forth in subsection (a) , “Confidential Information” excludes information that [ the Recipient demonstrates ]
(i) was or becomes generally publicly available other than as a result of a disclosure by Recipient or any of its Representatives in violation of this Agreement ；
(ii) is in the [ lawful] possession of the Recipient or any of its Representatives prior to its disclosure by or on behalf of the Company or any of its Representatives ； or
(iii) was or becomes available to the Recipient or any of its Representatives on a nonconfidential basis [ prior to its disclosure by or on behalf of the Company or its Representa
tives ] from a third party that [ to the Recipient’s knowledge [ after due inquiry ] ] is not bound by a similar duty of confidentiality ( contractual，legal，fiduciary，or other).
(c) Representatives. “Representatives” means，with respect to any person，its directors ，officers，employees，agents，consultants，advisors，or other representatives.
Section X，02. Obligation to Maintain Confidentiality. During and after the term of this Agreement ” the Recipient shall，and shall [ use its best efforts to ] cause each of its Representatives to，keep the Confidential Information confidential. Without limiting the effect of the previous sentence，the Recipient shall not，and shall [ use its best efforts to ] cause its Representatives not to
(a)disclose any of the Confidential Information to any person, except
(i) [with the prior written consent of (the “Company Contact” ) ] ； or
(ii) as otherwise expressly permitted by the terms of this Agreement；
or
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