Last updated: August 2026
Ransomnews (“we”, “our”, “the site”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect when you visit ransomnews.com, how it is used, and the choices you have.
The data controller is Greywatch IT LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 16500967), registered office 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom, which publishes Ransomnews. You can reach us at [email protected].
What we collect
Server logs. Our hosting provider records standard request information for every visit: IP address, user agent, requested URL, referrer, and timestamp. These logs are used to diagnose technical issues and protect against abuse, and are typically retained for no more than 30 days.
Analytics. We may use privacy-respecting analytics to understand which articles are read and how visitors arrive at the site. Where used, analytics data is aggregated and does not identify individuals.
Email correspondence. If you write to us at the addresses on the Contact page, we retain that correspondence as long as it remains operationally relevant. We do not share email addresses or message contents with third parties.
Cookies. The site sets a small number of cookies, primarily for technical purposes (session management, content caching). Detail is in the Cookie Policy.
The website security check
When you use our website security check, we process the following:
- The domain you submit, and the results of the checks we run against it. Results are stored so that your report remains reachable at its private link.
- Your IP address, held briefly in a rate-limiting counter so that the tool cannot be used to flood a third party with requests. It is not stored alongside your scan.
- Your email address, only if you purchase a full report. It is supplied to us by Stripe with the payment confirmation and used to send you the report link and to answer support queries about the purchase.
The scan itself is passive and external: it requests resources the target website already publishes, along with public DNS and registry records. It does not require or receive credentials for the site being scanned, and it installs nothing.
Lawful basis. For free scans, our legitimate interest in providing and protecting the service. For paid reports, performance of the contract between you and us. Scan results are retained for up to twelve months so that purchased reports and re-scans remain available; you can ask us to delete a scan sooner.
Report links contain a random token and are not indexed, but anyone holding the link can view that report. Treat it as private.
Payments
Payments are processed by Stripe, which acts as merchant of record. Stripe collects your payment details and billing information directly — we never see or store card numbers. Stripe passes us the transaction reference and the email address you supplied so we can deliver your report. Stripe processes your data under its own privacy policy, and may transfer it outside the UK and EEA under appropriate safeguards.
What we do not collect
We do not require accounts to read the site, sell visitor data, run behavioural advertising, or share visitor information with third parties for marketing purposes. Comments are disabled site-wide.
Third-party services
Articles may contain embedded content (images, video, social-media posts) hosted on third-party platforms. When such embeds load, the third party may receive your IP address and set its own cookies in line with its privacy policy.
External links in articles point to other sites operated independently of Ransomnews. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites.
Outbound links and funding
Ransomnews does not run affiliate links and earns no commission when you follow a link to a vendor. Outbound links are ordinary, untracked links that set no commission cookie. The site is funded by licensing the data and research we produce, through clearly-labelled research partnerships, and through paid website security reports; see our Funding & Editorial Independence statement.
Site-verification meta tags
To verify ownership of the site to search engines, we may include passive verification <meta> tags in the page header (for example google-site-verification). These tags do not load third-party scripts, do not set cookies, and are not used to track visitors.
Your rights
If you are a resident of the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comprehensive privacy law, you have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of personal data we hold about you, and to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests. To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected]. You also have the right to complain to your supervisory authority; in the UK that is the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected in the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We do not separately notify visitors of changes.
Contact
Questions about this privacy policy: [email protected]