What NDA, security and "you own it" really mean — the things to check before handing a project to any partner.
"You own the source code" is something everyone says. But real ownership is decided by the contract, the process and how data is handled — not by a line on a homepage. Here's what to check.
Intellectual property
- The contract states that all work product belongs to you the moment it's created.
- Third-party code and open-source licenses are listed transparently, with no surprise obligations.
- You receive the full repository, documentation and infrastructure access at handover.
Security & NDA
An NDA should be signed before the partner sees anything sensitive — not after the third call. Access follows least-privilege, with audit logs, and production data doesn't leak into dev environments.
If you can't reclaim all of your code, data and access within a day, you don't truly own them yet.
How Apus does it
NDA from day one, all IP and source code belong to you, role-based access, and a complete handover. The same security discipline we apply to our own platform — working toward ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance.