r/technology • u/efap1701 • 11h ago

Artificial Intelligence 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/
337 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

220

u/loki2002 11h ago

Any NDA signed by a public official that requires withholding information from the public should be considered null and void by the very nature of their office.

20

u/The_All-Range_Atomic 9h ago

Agreed. It goes against the very definition of what a public official stands for: serving the public.

34

u/pimpeachment 10h ago

I agree. Boeing, lockheed, and Raytheon information provided to the government should all be made public. 

1

u/Rodot 1h ago

Personal SILEX refiners when

1

u/Kahnza 5h ago

Elected, or appointed by an elected? Same scrutiny IMO.

-23

u/TheKingInTheNorth 10h ago

That’s a silly blanket rule. There’s all sorts of information that government officials are privy to that shouldn’t be disclosed to the public.

16

u/loki2002 10h ago

Not local and county government officials; they aren't dealing with national security. They also have no responsibility or legal obligations to safeguard classified information.

3

u/Future-Bandicoot-823 6h ago

Sir, please, this is the internet. Your nuance is not welcome here!

-1

u/TheKingInTheNorth 5h ago

Absolutely they will, they are privy to all sorts of application and planning information from companies that can include trade secrets that get disclosed as part of inspections and approvals.

4

u/loki2002 5h ago

If the company chooses to disclose what they consider trade secrets to a local/county elected public official they shouldn't expect it to stay secret for long. There is zero reason for local/county elected public officials to keep information from the public. Any company wanting to do business with local/county government should not have the ability to silence anyone about any part of the deal. The public right to know outweighs any privacy concern of the company.

4

u/happyscrappy 9h ago

I think it should apply to elected officials. The elected officials represent their constituents. It's representative democracy. They should not be able to agree to withhold information from their constituents.

[edit: maybe elected representatives. Might not apply to sheriffs for example, who are elected in some areas.]

3

u/-Pepperzpyre- 5h ago

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

-1

u/TheKingInTheNorth 5h ago

Sure, downvotes just don’t reflect reality despite what the hivemind believes.

1

u/axonxorz 8h ago

Gimme some salient examples

1

u/TheKingInTheNorth 7h ago

A city will inspect the construction plans for a manufacturer or supply chain company(or data center), those plans will contain trade secrets about how they build and design their facilities.

Pretty much think of any review and inspection process that needs to sign off on what a company is proposing to build or create or sell. Officials should be able to inspect with transparency without those companies having their IP freely able to be shared external to those processes.

1

u/Kay_tnx_bai 2h ago

But this should be very narrow because I can see it already that they will tie in the destructive nature of their so called ‘trade secrets’ there too while they should absolutely be known to the public. How many datacenters have simply been lying about their environmental harm they cause? Lying about that should automatically void said NDA. I don’t care if that could ‘show’ the trade secrets, fuck them. The corporate world has been proven that they simply don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

148

u/VTArxelus 11h ago

Still not excusable. They need to start playing by THE PEOPLE'S rules, not a single representative's who decides that the people shouldn't get a say. 

-25

u/pimpeachment 10h ago

Representatives is the peoples rules. That's how a representative democratic republic functions. 

28

u/VTArxelus 10h ago

Except when a representative actively works against the people they represent.

6

u/spaceiswaytoobig 10h ago

Maybe the people should stop voting for the guy who works against them.

16

u/VTArxelus 10h ago

And if he decides to do it "on a whim"  one day in the middle of his term, then what? You don't seem to be understanding. 

-2

u/pimpeachment 4h ago

Recall them. Vote another person in. Make them an example to not follow. 

-10

u/TheKingInTheNorth 10h ago

You’re basically arguing against representative democracy without proposing any type of viable alternative? You want business regulation to be specifically required to follow some other sort of legislative process that “the people” control outside of the democratic government we already have?

19

u/FamousAd9790 9h ago

Are you pretending to be ignorant? There is no democracy in a system where candidates are bought by lobbyists and there's no limit on corporate campaign money. But yeah, let's hear it for representative democracy.

-2

u/myfistvsthebttle 4h ago

Good luck with your anarchy, ace

-9

u/spaceiswaytoobig 7h ago

Vote for someone else next time. Only 75 out of 535 members of senate are in their first term. Don’t pretend like we aren’t voting for the same useless fucks over and over.

3

u/VTArxelus 7h ago

I'm not pretending, it's everyone else doing the pretending for me. 

3

u/Prineak 6h ago

The people who vote on public company decisions, also own a stake in said company.

And this behavior has been deregulated.

0

u/pimpeachment 4h ago

That's too challenging for people to comprehend.

0

u/pimpeachment 4h ago

Then recall them... All these problems have solutions. Y'all just lazy. 

0

u/bwoah07_gp2 10h ago

That's what makes elements of democracy flawed

3

u/imaginary_num6er 9h ago

Some people are more people than others /s

-13

u/mtcwby 7h ago

What's your alternative? Most people can't even make decent choices in their own life, their health and what they eat. A true democracy wouldn't work at all. We can crack down on corruption as a start to clean out the worst and put some fear into the political class. In a perfect world our reps are experts in government and negotiating to the compromises for the good of the country. And sometimes the good of the country is not the will of the mob.

17

u/flaming_bob 8h ago

So they admit that county officials were sworn to secrecy from the voters. Can we investigate everyone whos' signed them now?

6

u/nomdeplume 7h ago

This would require a government which isn't completely corrupt because more than half the voter base can't read beyond a 3rd grade level

15

u/Bella_Mia_ 11h ago

They need to stop building them period

5

u/kapilshar65 10h ago

The bigger issue is communities need enough information to judge whether the economic benefits justify the infrastructure and environmental costs

5

u/ElectroDaddy 7h ago

I assume because more and more people are finding out that NDAs are largely unenforceable unless the company can prove your disclosure lead to anti-competitive business practices.

7

u/PRSMesa182 11h ago

Too little too late imho

2

u/Clean_Hyena7172 10h ago

I would guess the most likely outcome is third parties are used as a proxy, NDAs between the officials and a contractor who is simply acting on the behalf of the big tech companies

2

u/Clean-Shift-291 9h ago

They want 90% property tax rebates for 30 years. Sweeet deal!

1

u/Mother_Airline_6276 3h ago

Have they found alternative legalise?

0

u/EnamelKant 11h ago

I can neither confirm nor deny this for reasons I cannot disclose.