OPTARUSRISK & INTELLIGENCE← Return to main site
Legal & privacy

Privacy notice

How personal information is handled on this pre-launch website and within future OPTARUS services.

Effective 21 September 2026 · Review before subscriptions open

Who is responsible

The data controller is Stephen J. Taylor, trading under the pre-launch name OPTARUS Risk & Intelligence.

During pre-launch, contact is available through Stephen J. Taylor on LinkedIn. A dedicated business email and the business correspondence details required for online sales will be added before subscriptions open.

No subscription is currently available. This site does not currently accept payment, create member accounts or collect information through a contact or mailing-list form.

Information processed by the current website

OPTARUS has not added analytics, advertising trackers or a marketing cookie system to this website. The hosting service may process technical request information—such as IP address, device or browser information, requested page, timestamps and security logs—to deliver and protect the site.

If you follow a link to a third-party service, including LinkedIn, that service processes information under its own privacy terms.

Information expected at service launch

Before subscriptions open, this notice will be updated to identify every active provider and processing purpose. The service is expected to require:

  • name, organisation and professional contact details;
  • subscription, delivery and account records;
  • payment status and transaction references supplied by the payment provider—OPTARUS does not intend to store full card details;
  • service communications, enquiries and support history; and
  • consent and preference records where marketing messages are offered.

Information used in open-source research

OPTARUS may process information about identifiable people where it is necessary for proportionate geopolitical, maritime-security or commercial-risk analysis. This can include professional identity, public roles and statements, company or vessel relationships, official designations and relevant publicly reported allegations.

Sources may include official publications, sanctions and corporate registers, court or parliamentary material, reputable journalism, specialist research, public professional profiles and other lawfully accessible open sources. Public availability does not remove the duties of necessity, fairness, accuracy and data minimisation.

Research is analyst-led. OPTARUS does not use solely automated processing to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects about an individual. Further safeguards are set out in the Data Processing & Responsible OSINT Policy.

Purposes and lawful bases

Site delivery and securityLegitimate interests in providing, protecting and diagnosing the website.
Professional enquiriesLegitimate interests and steps requested before entering a contract.
Open-source researchLegitimate interests in producing necessary and proportionate geopolitical, security and commercial-risk analysis, subject to a documented balancing assessment where personal-data use is material.
Future membershipPerformance of a contract, including access, delivery, billing and support.
Required recordsCompliance with legal obligations, including accounting and consumer obligations.
Optional marketingConsent where required, or another lawful route permitted for the intended recipient and communication; every marketing message will provide an appropriate opt-out.

Recipients and international processing

Technical data may be processed by the website hosting provider and its infrastructure suppliers. Future publication, email and payment providers will be named here before they are activated.

Some providers may process data outside the UK. Where that occurs, OPTARUS will identify the transfer mechanism or relevant safeguards in the launch version of this notice.

Retention

Information is retained only for as long as necessary for the relevant purpose. Decisions take account of source-verification and analytical-continuity needs, contractual and accounting duties, potential disputes, the sensitivity of the information and whether it remains accurate and relevant. Exact periods for subscriber, payment and communication records will be published before collection begins.

Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection. Where processing relies on consent, consent may be withdrawn. These rights are not absolute and the applicable right depends on the lawful basis and context.

Your right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Direct marketing will stop when you object.

You may complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would welcome the opportunity to address a concern first through the contact route published above.