Privacy & Security

Privacy is a human right.

We exist to protect people from digital harm. That means holding ourselves to the highest standard on how we handle your information — and on the security of the systems that hold it.

Security policy

Security & responsible disclosure

Our platform is used by survivors of technology-facilitated abuse. The security of the people who depend on us is not negotiable. Please read this section before attempting any form of security research against our systems.

Penetration testing & security scanning

Unauthorised testing is not permitted.

Penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, fuzzing, automated enumeration, or any form of active security testing against our systems, APIs, or infrastructure requires the express prior written approval of Nansen Digital Forensic Services. This applies regardless of stated intent, claimed methodology, or professional affiliation.

Our platform serves victim-survivors of technology-facilitated abuse — people who are often actively at risk. Unauthorised testing that affects system availability, data integrity, or user confidentiality could cause direct harm to these individuals. We treat any such activity with the utmost seriousness.

To request authorisation for testing where no existing assessment or independent analysis already covers the area of concern, before you begin. We will consider reasonable, well-scoped requests and, where appropriate, agree terms in writing.

Bug bounties

We do not operate a paid bug bounty programme.

We will not make financial payments for vulnerability reports, regardless of claimed severity or impact.

If you have identified a genuine, verifiable security issue and report it to us in good faith through our contact below, we will investigate it, patch it if confirmed, and publish a security notice on this page crediting your contribution (unless you prefer to remain anonymous). That is the extent of what we offer.

Reports accompanied by payment demands, non-disclosure threats, disclosure deadlines, or offers to sell paid security services as a condition of resolving the issue will not be engaged with on their technical merits. We treat demands of this nature as extortion and refer them directly to law enforcement. Attempting to leverage a vulnerability — or the threat of disclosure — for financial gain is a criminal offence in Australia and in all jurisdictions where we operate.

Legal notice

Unauthorised access to our systems is a criminal offence.

  • All access to our systems is logged, retained, and reviewed. Logs are available to law enforcement on request.
  • Unauthorised computer access is an offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (UK), and equivalent legislation across the EU, US, and New Zealand.
  • Labelling activity as "security research" after the fact does not retroactively authorise it, does not obligate us to respond or negotiate, and does not confer protection from prosecution.
  • Given the nature of our user base — people who are often fleeing abusive situations — we will take the strongest available action to protect them. We do not issue warnings before referring matters to authorities.

Security advisories & disclosures

When a genuine, verified security issue is reported to us in good faith and subsequently patched, we publish a notice here. Disclosures include a description of the issue, the remediation applied, and (where requested) credit to the reporting researcher.

No public advisories to date.
Published documents

Our public policies

The following documents are published by Nansen Digital Forensic Services operating as The Digital Safeguard Centre and the Acorn platform. Documents are being finalised and will be linked here on publication.

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Privacy Notice

What we collect, why, how long we keep it, and your rights across all Centre services and the Acorn platform.

Publishing soon
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Terms of Service

The terms governing access to and use of the Acorn platform and associated services.

Publishing soon
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Cookie & Tracking Policy

What cookies and tracking technologies we use, why, and how to manage your preferences.

Publishing soon
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Children & Minor Users Policy

How we handle accounts and data for users who are or may be under 18.

Publishing soon
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Public AI Notice

How we use AI within our products, what models we use, and the human oversight we maintain.

Publishing soon
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Vulnerability Disclosure Policy

Scope, safe harbour conditions, how to report, our response commitments, and coordinated disclosure.

Publishing soon
Our principles

How we think about privacy

These principles guide every product decision we make — not just our legal compliance.

i.

Minimum necessary

We collect only what we genuinely need to deliver the service. We do not collect data for future hypothetical purposes.

ii.

Survivor control

Survivors own their records. We offer deletion on request, no questions asked, without penalty or delay.

iii.

No advertising

We do not sell, licence, or share personal information with advertisers or data brokers — ever.

iv.

Australian data residency

Survivor data stays in Australian jurisdiction. International transfers require explicit consent and a documented lawful basis.

v.

Breach transparency

We notify affected individuals within 72 hours of a confirmed breach — ahead of most statutory timeframes.

vi.

Plain language

Our policies are written for the people they protect, not for lawyers. If something is unclear, email us.

Third-party services

Services that process your data

We use a small number of external services in the operation of this website. This section discloses each one and explains what data it receives.

i.

Web3Forms (form delivery)

Contact messages submitted through our website are delivered via Web3Forms. The content you submit — name, email, and message — is transmitted to their service for delivery to our inbox. Web3Forms does not store form submissions.

ii.

MyMemory Translation API (contact form only)

Contact form messages are automatically translated to English on our server before delivery so that staff can respond effectively regardless of the language used. This translation is performed server-side by our own infrastructure — your IP address is never shared with the translation service. Only the text of your message is transmitted. You may write in English to bypass this step entirely.

iii.

api.country.is (emergency number)

The footer emergency number is personalised to your country. To determine your country, your browser makes a single anonymous request to api.country.is. No cookies or persistent identifiers are used by that service.

Contact

Privacy & security enquiries

We respond within 2–5 business days. All enquiries are handled confidentially.

Live compliance status

Privacy & Compliance Monitor

Real-time status of our compliance posture across frameworks and data residency commitments.

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