Are there any restrictions on Bigfoot Forestry's right to disclose my Operational Data?
Bigfoot_Forestry Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
"Confidential Information" means and includes: (a) Know-How; (b) Business Data; (c) information in the Manual or comprising the System; (d) terms of Definitive Agreements and any amendments thereto; and (e) all other concepts, ideas, trade secrets, financial information, marketing strategies, expansion strategies, studies, supplier information, customer information, franchisee information, investor information, flow charts, inventions, mask works, improvements, discoveries, standards, specifications, formulae, recipes, designs, sketches, drawings, policies, processes, procedures, methodologies and techniques, together with analyses, compilations, studies or other documents that are: (i) designated as confidential; (ii) known by you to be considered confidential by us; and/or (iii) reasonably to be considered confidential due to their nature. Confidential Information does not include information that: (a) is now, or subsequently becomes, generally available to the public (except as a result of a breach of confidentiality obligations by you or your Owners, employees or other constituents); (b) you can demonstrate was rightfully possessed by you or an Owner, without obligation of nondisclosure, before we disclosed the information to you or the Owner; (c) is independently developed by you or an Owner without any use of, or reference to, any Confidential Information; or (d) is rightfully obtained from a third party who has the right to transfer or disclose the information to you or an Owner without breaching a confidentiality covenant imposed on such third party.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 42–162)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bigfoot Forestry's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the definition of "Confidential Information" includes "Business Data." This means that operational data is considered confidential. However, there are exceptions to what is considered Confidential Information.
Specifically, Bigfoot Forestry is not restricted from disclosing information that: is already publicly available (unless due to a breach of confidentiality by the franchisee), was already rightfully in the franchisee's possession without any obligation to keep it secret, was independently developed by the franchisee without using Bigfoot Forestry's confidential information, or was rightfully obtained from a third party who had the right to disclose it.
These stipulations mean that while Bigfoot Forestry considers operational data confidential, they are not bound to keep information secret if it falls under one of the listed exceptions. A prospective franchisee should understand these exceptions and how they might affect the confidentiality of their business data.