Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs with government agencies

Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman wrote in a company blog post that Amazon has stopped using nondisclosure agreements in its dealings with government agencies while pursuing approval for new data centers. The disclosure was a single line within a longer post aimed at countering growing public suspicion of data center projects and arguing that they benefit local communities.

Secrecy agreements have been a central complaint in the broader backlash against data centers. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has said the top grievance she hears is a lack of transparency, describing a recurring pattern where permits are secured before projects are announced and local officials sign NDAs before neighbors even learn a project is being considered.

That backlash has already produced concrete results: New York imposed a one-year moratorium on permits for large data centers, and Garman said more than 100 similar moratoriums are currently under consideration across the United States. He warned that if such measures take hold, the U.S. risks undermining its competitive position for generations.

Addressing water, power and pollution claims

Garman also pushed back on what he called four myths — that data centers consume excessive water, raise electricity prices, generate major pollution, and offer no community benefit. Citing an Amazon report, he said direct data center water use accounts for just 0.5% of total U.S. industrial water consumption, far less than industries like golf courses or almond farming.

On electricity costs, Garman argued that rates have only risen in certain states with heavy data center activity, while falling or growing more slowly elsewhere, attributing increases mainly to aging power grids. However, an independent grid watchdog recently found that data centers were the primary driver behind a 76% year-over-year price increase on one of the country's largest electrical grids.

Regarding pollution, Garman said critics focus on the maximum emissions allowed under permits rather than actual usage — noting that a planned Amazon data center in Texas, permitted to emit up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, in practice runs its generators only about 10 hours a year for maintenance.

Garman further noted that Amazon has contributed more than $1 billion over the past three years to communities hosting its data centers. Still, observers including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have suggested the underlying issue is a broader crisis of trust between the public and both governments and tech companies.