--- title: "Acceptable use and ethics" language: en canonical: https://osint.v3rta.com/acceptable-use/ updated: 2026-10-12 --- # Acceptable use and ethics - We research companies and groups of companies, and the people connected to them, only for a lawful purpose stated in writing. - We refuse work that could enable stalking, harassment, intimidation, unlawful discrimination or sanctions evasion. - Our findings inform decisions; they must not be the sole basis for decisions with legal effects on a person without human review. - Nobody may probe, scrape abusively, overload or reverse-engineer our systems. ## About this policy This policy applies to our clients, to everyone who receives our research, and to everyone who uses our website, forms, feeds, data and other systems. It forms part of our [terms of use](https://osint.v3rta.com/terms/) and our [client terms](https://osint.v3rta.com/client-terms/). In this policy, "**DossierTwist**", "**we**", "**us**" and "**our**" mean the operator of this website together with its affiliated entities, partners, successors and assigns. We publish this policy because research into companies and people is powerful. Used well, it prevents fraud, protects investors, keeps sanctioned money out of the financial system and supports public-interest journalism. Used badly, it can harm people who have done nothing wrong. We decline work that falls on the wrong side of that line. ## Lawful, stated purpose We take on research only for a lawful purpose that the client states in writing before we start. Typical purposes include: - due diligence before a contract, partnership, distribution agreement, investment or acquisition; - customer and counterparty onboarding (KYC and KYB) and periodic review; - compliance with anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, sanctions, anti-bribery and export-control obligations; - the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud, corruption and other crime; - asset tracing and the enforcement of judgments and awards; - the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, including under the instruction of counsel; - journalism, academic research and other work in the public interest. The purpose determines the scope. Our research concerns companies and groups of companies; people come into it only through their connection with them, as owners, directors, officers, founders or counterparties. We collect only what is relevant to the purpose, and our report is written for it. ## What we refuse We will not accept, and will stop, any request whose purpose or likely effect is: - to stalk, harass, threaten, intimidate, blackmail or shame any person; - to locate a person who does not wish to be found, other than for a lawful purpose such as the enforcement of a court order, and then only by lawful means; - to research a private individual for personal or domestic reasons, such as a former partner, a relative or a neighbour; - to identify, intimidate or retaliate against a journalist, a whistleblower, a witness, a human rights defender or their sources; - to discriminate unlawfully against any person, including on grounds of race, sex, pregnancy, disability, family status, religion, political opinion or sexual orientation; - to screen employees, applicants or tenants in a way that breaches employment, housing, data protection or anti-discrimination law; - to make or support consumer credit, insurance or employment decisions where the law regulates the information that may be used and our research is not suitable for that purpose; - to evade sanctions, export controls or anti-money-laundering obligations, or to help any person do so; - to obtain trade secrets or confidential information unlawfully, or to gain an unfair advantage through deception; - to support any activity that is unlawful where the client, the subject or we operate. ## How we research We use public records, published sources and lawful enquiries. We do not obtain information by deception or pretexting, by hacking or accessing private accounts, by intercepting communications, by buying stolen or unlawfully obtained data, or by paying or inducing officials or employees to disclose confidential information. We do not place people under covert physical surveillance. Where a matter requires enquiries on the ground, we tell the client before we make them and record how each one was made. ## Who we work for We confirm the identity of every new client, and where appropriate its owners, and we screen clients against sanctions lists before we accept an engagement. We check every request against our clients and our published work for conflicts of interest. We may ask for evidence of the stated purpose, such as a term sheet, a draft contract, a court claim or a commissioning letter. We may decline any request without giving reasons, and we will stop work if we learn that the purpose has changed, was misrepresented, or that our work is being or could be misused. ## Your responsibilities as a client When you receive our research, you must: - use it only for the purpose stated in the engagement, and not for any purpose this policy refuses; - treat personal data in it in accordance with the law that applies to you, including the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of Hong Kong where it applies, as you become a data user of that data; - keep it confidential, share it only with people who need it for the stated purpose and who are bound to keep it confidential, and protect it with appropriate security; - not publish it, or present it as our public reporting, without our written agreement; - delete or return it when you no longer need it for the stated purpose, subject to your legal obligations to retain records. ## Responsible use of AI-assisted findings Our research is produced with a proprietary AI-assisted research system under the direction of analysts, who check every finding against its source and sign off every report. Every report states its uncertainties. You must not use our findings, or any automated output derived from them, as the sole basis for a decision that has legal or similarly significant effects on an individual, such as refusing a person a job, a home, a bank account or a service, without meaningful human review of the findings and their uncertainties, and without giving the individual an opportunity to respond where the law or fairness requires it. ## Our website and systems Everyone who uses our website, forms, feeds, data files and other systems must not: - attempt to gain unauthorised access to any system, account, administration area, review link or data, or to circumvent authentication, rate limits or other security measures; - probe, scan or test the vulnerability of our systems, other than through good-faith security research reported privately as described in our `security.txt` file at `/.well-known/security.txt`; - overload or disrupt our systems, including by denial-of-service attacks, abusive crawling or automated form submissions; - reverse-engineer, decompile or attempt to extract the models, prompts, source code, data or methods of our research system or software, except to the extent the law expressly permits; - scrape our website in breach of `robots.txt` or at rates that place an undue load on it, or use our content in breach of its licence; - upload or transmit malware or any harmful code, or use our forms to send spam, threats or unlawful content; - impersonate us or anyone else, or misrepresent your affiliation. ## Reporting a concern If you believe our research has been misused, that we are researching you for an improper purpose, or that someone is using our name or work to cause harm, write to {{emails.briefs}} or, for matters involving personal data, to {{emails.privacy}}. Security vulnerabilities should be reported through the contact in our `security.txt` file. We review every report and take action where it is justified. ## Enforcement If we believe this policy has been breached, we may decline or stop work, withhold or withdraw deliverables, terminate an engagement in accordance with our client terms, block access to our website or systems, report the matter to the relevant authorities where the law requires or permits, and take any other action available to us in law. Breach of this policy by a client is a material breach of our client terms. ## Changes and language We may update this policy from time to time; the version published on this page, with its date, applies. This policy is written in English. We may provide translations for convenience. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between the English text and a translation, the English text prevails. This policy is governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.