The Pulse
Amazon Ends NDAs With Government Agencies on Data-Center Projects as Trust Fight Continues
Amazon says it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements with government agencies it works with on data-center projects, alongside commitments to hold open houses and publish annual operating figures. A report coauthored by Erin Brockovich an
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Amazon says it has stopped using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on its data-center projects. The commitment sets out a specific change to how Amazon works with those agencies, while residents’ questions about when they learn about a project and what information they can see remain. A May report coauthored by Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby describes transparency as the most common concern in submissions to their data-center map.
AWS CEO Matt Garman announced the policy on October 2 as part of a broader set of commitments for communities where Amazon builds data centers. On October 9, TechCrunch’s Equity podcast took up the question of whether companies dropping NDAs can rebuild public trust. Amazon’s announcement adds open houses and annual disclosures to the pledge, but does not specify a schedule for each project’s disclosures or detail what information communities will receive.
Amazon’s October 2 pledge
Garman’s statement appears in the Amazon Data Center Commitment, which he describes as a series of tenets, much of which he says Amazon already follows. The commitment says the company no longer uses NDAs with the government agencies it works with on projects, and that it hosts open houses in communities where it operates, shares its plans as early as possible and listens to concerns as projects progress.
“We no longer use nondisclosure agreements with the government agencies we work with on our projects.”
Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services
The policy’s stated scope is government agencies Amazon works with. The announcement does not say whether previous agreements have been canceled, nor does it promise that every project detail will be public. It separately commits Amazon to publishing annual figures on energy use, energy efficiency, water use, water efficiency and the share of energy from carbon-free sources.
Brockovich and Boothby’s complaint is about timing
In a May 27 post, Brockovich and coauthor Suzanne Boothby wrote that residents’ most common concern in submissions to their data-center map was transparency. They describe people arriving at planning meetings to find decisions already made, and local officials signing NDAs before neighbors knew a project was under consideration. Their complaint is not only that information is withheld; it is that people may learn about development after key decisions have already been made.
“Transparency means notifying residents before decisions are made, not after.”
Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby, coauthors of The Brockovich Report
Garman’s October post acknowledges community apprehension while arguing for faster data-center construction. He wrote that more than 100 moratoriums were being considered around the country and warned that enacting them could harm U.S. competitiveness. That figure is Garman’s count in Amazon’s post; the announcement does not provide a list of the measures.
Built Together adds funding, not just disclosure
Amazon also announced Built Together, a program it says will add more than $1 billion over five years to its existing community investments. The company says the money will support education and job training, energy affordability, water preservation and local priorities selected with communities. Its targets include connecting more than 300,000 students to free community-college degree access and funding energy upgrades for more than 30,000 homes and over 300 schools and community buildings.
Those figures are Amazon’s stated plans, not completed results. The company says it plans to launch the community-college program in the coming months and will roll out its energy-upgrade program across data-center communities over the same period. It also says local nonprofit groups and community foundations will help direct flexible funding, with reporting on outcomes.
What residents will be able to check
The commitment goes further than the NDA pledge alone: open houses, project plans shared as early as possible and, from now on, annual operating data. The announcement does not set a public timetable for those disclosures or define what project information will be shared at each stage. For residents, the measure of change will be whether they can see meaningful details and raise concerns before decisions are settled—not simply whether an NDA is absent.
That leaves Amazon with a measurable commitment to implement: annual public figures, alongside the open houses and community programs. Whether those steps answer residents’ objections depends on what is disclosed and when.