Confidential and Proprietary Information 12.1 Consultant acknowledges that it and its employees or agents may, in the course of performing their responsibilities under this Agreement, be exposed to or acquire information that is confidential to County. Any and all information of any form obtained by Consultant or its employees or agents from County in the performance of this Agreement shall be deemed to be confidential information of County ("Confidential Information"). Any reports or other documents or items (including software) that result from the use of the Confidential Information by Consultant shall be treated with respect to confidentiality in the same manner as the Confidential Information. Confidential Information shall be deemed not to include information that (a) is or becomes (other than by disclosure by Consultant) publicly known or is contained in a publicly available document; (b) is rightfully in Consultant's possession without the obligation of nondisclosure prior to the time of its disclosure under this Agreement; or (c) is independently developed by employees or agents of Consultant who can be shown to have had no access to the Confidential Information.
12.2 Consultant agrees to hold Confidential Information in strict confidence, using at least the same degree of care that Consultant uses in maintaining the confidentiality of its own confidential information, and not to copy, reproduce, sell, assign, license, market, transfer or otherwise dispose of, give, or disclose Confidential Information to third parties or use Confidential Information for any purposes whatsoever other than the provision of Services to County hereunder, and to advise each of its employees and agents of their obligations to keep Confidential Information confidential. Consultant shall use its best efforts to assist County in identifying and preventing any unauthorized use or disclosure of any Confidential Information. Without limitation of the foregoing, Consultant shall advise County immediately in the event Consultant learns or has reason to believe that any person who has had access to Confidential Information has violated or intends to violate the terms of this Agreement and Consultant will at its expense cooperate with County in seeking injunctive or other equitable relief in the name of County or Consultant against any such person. Consultant agrees that, except as directed by County, Consultant will not at any time during or after the term of this Agreement disclose, directly or indirectly, any Confidential Information to any person, and that upon termination of this Agreement or at County's request, Consultant will promptly turn over to County all documents, papers, and other matter in Consultant’s possession which embody Confidential Information.
12.3 Consultant acknowledges that a breach of this Section, including disclosure of any Confidential Information, or disclosure of other information that, at law or in equity, ought to remain confidential, will give rise to irreparable injury to County that is inadequately compensable in damages. Accordingly, County may seek and obtain injunctive relief against the breach or threatened breach of the foregoing undertakings, in addition to any other legal remedies that may be available. Consultant acknowledges and agrees that the covenants contained herein are necessary for the protection of the legitimate business interest of County and are reasonable in scope and content.
12.4 Consultant in providing all services hereunder agrees to abide by the provisions of any applicable Federal or State Data Privacy Act.
12.5 Consultant expressly acknowledges that County is subject to the Texas Public Information Act, TEX. GOV’T CODE XXX. §§ 552.001 et seq., as amended, and notwithstanding any provision in the Agreement to the contrary, County will make any information related to the Agreement, or otherwise, available to third parties in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act. Any proprietary or confidential information marked as such provided to County by Consultant shall not be disclosed to any third party, except as directed by the Texas Attorney General in response to a request for such under the Texas Public Information Act, which provides for notice to the owner of such marked information and the opportunity for the owner of such information to notify the Attorney General of the reasons why such information should not be disclosed.
