Privacy Policy

Defense Network LLC operates Operator Connect — a vetted marketplace connecting defense startups with active duty Special Forces operators, acquisition consultants, defense-focused capital, and professional services.

Contact: defensenetworkllc@protonmail.com

For Defense Companies, Consultants, BBS, and Capital members we collect: full name, company name, company email address, and role selection at signup. These fields are used solely to operate your account and match you with relevant operators and companies on the network.

For Active Duty Operators we collect only an alias (never a real name), a purpose-built alias email address from an approved privacy-first provider, and your declared specialties. No personally identifiable information is linked to your alias account — not your real name, not your unit, not your rank.

We do not collect: IP addresses for user profiling, device fingerprints, browsing history, geolocation, or any behavioral analytics.

Operator alias accounts are protected at the infrastructure level:

— Your contact email is stored AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest in your profile record, with the encryption key held outside the database (in application secrets). A dump of the profile database yields ciphertext, not addresses.

— No real name, unit, rank, or other identifying information is ever stored, required, or accepted for operator accounts.

— Operators sign up with a privacy-provider alias email (never a .mil/.gov or real-name address). We store no real name, unit, or rank — your login identifier is itself an alias. Your contact email is AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest with the key held outside the database.

— We do not require, request, or accept your SSN, Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), or other financial documents for vetting. Any material you choose to share during identity-protected verification is reviewed and then deleted from our systems once vetting is complete; we do not retain copies.

Your data is used exclusively to: — Operate your account and authenticate your sessions — Match your profile against demand signals and other network members — Deliver relevant notifications about matching opportunities

We do not sell, rent, license, or share your data with any third party for marketing, advertising, or commercial purposes. Ever.

We use Supabase (hosted in the United States) for authentication and database storage. Supabase processes data under a Data Processing Agreement and does not use your data for any purpose beyond hosting.

We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Segment, Mixpanel, Hotjar, or any third-party behavioral-analytics or advertising trackers. No third-party JavaScript SDK runs on this site except what is required to render the application.

We do operate our own first-party, privacy-preserving engagement measurement to improve the product. It records only coarse interactions — which sections of a page are viewed, dwelled on, or clicked — with no mouse tracking, no keystrokes, and no page content. Verified operators are never individually tracked: their engagement is recorded only as anonymous aggregate, with no account attached. Engagement is associated with an account solely for non-operator users (companies, consultants, and capital), and reporting suppresses any cohort below a k-anonymity threshold so individuals cannot be singled out.

We use a single first-party session cookie to maintain your authentication state. No third-party cookies are set. We do not use localStorage for personally identifiable data.

Your privacy banner preference (GOT IT) is stored in sessionStorage — it expires when you close your browser tab.

Account data is retained for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by emailing defensenetworkllc@protonmail.com with subject: DELETE MY ACCOUNT. Deletion is permanent and irreversible.

Operator vetting documents are deleted immediately after vetting is complete. They are never stored in the application database.

You have the right to: access a copy of data we hold about you, correct inaccurate data, request deletion of your data, and withdraw consent. Submit requests to defensenetworkllc@protonmail.com.

Operators: because your alias account contains no identifying information, a data access request can only be fulfilled by referencing your alias username — we cannot look up accounts by real name.

We will notify members of material changes to this policy by posting a notice on the platform and updating the effective date below. Continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Defense Network LLC defensenetworkllc@protonmail.com

For urgent security disclosures, use subject: SECURITY DISCLOSURE.