Ethics
Ethics and Acceptance Policy
Intelligence is only useful if you can stand behind how it was gathered. The same methods that find your exposure could be used to harm someone, so these rules apply to every engagement and are agreed in writing before work starts.
How we collect
- We only use information that’s publicly available or that you give us. We never break into systems or accounts.
- We don’t buy stolen data. If we find leaked material about you, we confirm it exists and describe it. We don’t acquire it.
- We don’t talk to threat actors unless you and we have agreed on it in writing first.
- Research happens in isolated environments, and any research accounts we use are documented and only used to look, never to interact.
Competitive intelligence
- Passive collection only. We review what competitors publish and expose. We don’t probe or test it.
- We don’t pretend to be someone else to get information, and we don’t try to get anyone’s confidential information or trade secrets.
- We follow the SCIP code of ethics.
Work involving people
- We don’t produce reports used to make hiring, housing or credit decisions. That’s regulated work under the FCRA, and it isn’t what we do.
- We only use data-broker and DMV data where the law allows it (GLBA and DPPA), and never pretext for financial records.
- If a job involves someone in a state that requires a private investigator license, we bring in a licensed partner.
Work we turn down
- Finding where a private person lives or works.
- Domestic disputes, relationship or custody matters.
- Any request where we can’t confirm who the client is and why they’re asking.
Quality
Every finding comes with its source and how confident we are in it. Anything that goes to a client is reviewed by a second analyst first, and every engagement has a case log.