We are strict and cautious with regards to who we work with, and for which cause. We only engage with those who align with our purpose to make the world a better place.

We provide OSINT solutions to law enforcement agencies (LEA), public services and compliance platforms worldwide. Although our solutions only use data and information that are publicly accessible, we are strict and cautious with regards to who we work with and for what cause. We always conduct our due diligence before engagement and use ethical, moral, and legal frameworks to assure the necessary protection to everyone involved and only engage with those who align with our purpose to make the world a better place.

Legal frameworks

We follow and comply with all applicable laws and regulations and focus on sanction, privacy, and data protection regulations. We strictly follow the UN Sanction Laws, which tell us which countries, organisations and/or persons we can and cannot do business with. Some of our solutions might include the processing of personal data. We only do business with organisations that comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and have data processing agreements in place with all our customers and partners. In addition, we periodically conduct (third party) Data Privacy Impact Assessments. Read our privacy statement for more information.

Ethical frameworks

During onboarding and the operation of our work with customers and/or projects, we do not only apply legal boundaries, but also carefully test each case along ethical and moral frameworks. Our continual ethical reflection is based on three ethical frameworks: the Consequentialist framework, the Duty framework, and the Virtue framework.

Simply stated, these frameworks can be summarised with three questions:

  1. “Does supplying our solutions may have bad consequences to certain people in the end, and is it proportionate to the good things we realise?”,
  2. “Are we allowed to supply our solutions?”
  3. “Does supplying our solutions fit with how we want to be seen by society in the broader sense; a social impact company bettering the world?"

This framework is a product of academic dialogue and debate held at Brown University in the spring semester of 2011. It relies on the Ethical Framework developed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and the Ethical Framework developed by the Center for Ethical Deliberation at the University of Northern Colorado as well as the Ethical Frameworks for Academic Decision-Making on the Faculty Focus which in turn relies upon Understanding Ethical Frameworks for E-Learning Decision-Making, December 1, 2008, Distance Education Report.

Source: Bonde, S., Firenze, P., Green, J., Grinberg, M., Korijn, J., Levoy, E., Naik, A., Ucik, L. and Weisberg, L., 2013. Making choices: A framework for making ethical decisions. Retrieved from link to source.

A 360-view on our partners and customers

We apply all frameworks concurrently to look at our activities from different angles, and by doing so, create a 360-degree view that we use to make our decisions. We believe ethics are not static, because it can and will change over time. We therefore regularly assess the consequences, our duties and ourselves to assure we remain on track and assure to be a virtuous company, by using frameworks that are independent of legal and societal changes in time.

Example case

We do not necessarily supply solutions to certain “qualifying” countries even if these countries may not be on a UN sanction list and the rule of law in this country may be upheld according to EU standards and a Data Protection Agreement.

However, when reflecting on the “consequentialist-framework” we will refrain from doing business with countries if it is perceived that our solutions could have a negative effect on the civilians living in these countries as well as if the opposite applies (positive results apply to only a certain group of inhabitants). In addition, the “virtue-framework” underlines that if being associated with these regimes would not be virtuous then we will decide not to do business with these countries.

We are “Happy to help!” but always with privacy, ethics and morality in mind.

Eldert van Wijngaarden, CEO of Web-IQ