Privacy Policy
Version 1.0  |  Effective date: 26 August 2026

1.  Who we are

Ocean Tech Intelligence ("OTI", "we", "us", "our") is operated by Michael Stephen Woon, a sole trader based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (ABN 71674238026). Michael Stephen Woon is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

For any privacy question, or to exercise any right described below, contact [email protected].

2.  What this policy covers

This policy explains how OTI collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when we:

●     send you the OTI newsletter and related communications;
●     correspond with you by email or through social media messaging;
●     carry out professional outreach to potential subscribers, partners and advisory contacts; and
●     provide research and advisory services.

OTI’s newsletter is delivered through beehiiv, and our website is hosted by beehiiv. When you subscribe, beehiiv processes your information on its own platform under its own privacy policy (see beehiiv’s privacy policy). This policy describes what OTI does with personal information as the controller, including information we hold outside the beehiiv platform, such as our own correspondence and outreach records.

3.  The personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with OTI, we may collect:

●     Subscription details: the email address you subscribe with, any name you provide, and your communication preferences.
●     Engagement data: whether emails were delivered and opened, and whether links were clicked. This is generated through beehiiv and helps us understand what readers find useful. Many corporate and government mail systems distort this data, and we treat it as indicative only.
●     Correspondence: the contents of emails, replies and social media messages you send us, and the contact details attached to them.
●     Outreach information: for professional contacts we approach, we may hold a name, job title, employer, professional email address, and publicly available professional information, together with a note of whether and how you have engaged with OTI.
●     Advisory and business information: where you engage OTI for research or advisory work, the contact and business details needed to deliver and administer that engagement.

We do not intentionally collect special category (sensitive) personal information, and we ask that you do not send it to us.

4.  Where we obtain personal information

We obtain personal information:

●     directly from you, when you subscribe, reply, message us, or engage our services;
●     from beehiiv, being the subscription and engagement data generated as you use the newsletter; and
●     from publicly available professional sources such as LinkedIn profiles, company websites and public professional directories, when we research and approach potential subscribers, partners or advisory contacts.

Where we approach you using information obtained from public sources, this policy serves as the notice required under Article 14 of the UK and EU General Data Protection Regulation, and our first message to you will tell you where we obtained your details.

5.  Why we us it, and our lawful bases

We use personal information for the purposes below. For contacts protected by the UK or EU GDPR, the corresponding lawful basis is shown.

●     To send you the newsletter and related updates: on the basis of your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
●     To carry out professional B2B outreach: on the basis of our legitimate interests in building a readership and professional network relevant to maritime autonomy and ocean materials. We approach people only in a professional capacity, about matters relevant to their work, and we make it easy to decline. You can object at any time.
●     To respond to and manage correspondence: on the basis of our legitimate interests in communicating with people who contact us.
●     To provide advisory and research services: on the basis of performing a contract with you, or taking steps at your request before entering a contract.
●     To meet legal, accounting and tax obligations: on the basis of compliance with our legal obligations.

We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell personal information.

6.  Direct marketing and your control

Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link that takes effect immediately. You can also object to any outreach or marketing contact at any time by replying to any message, or by emailing [email protected], and we will stop.

7.  Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information or share it for others’ marketing. We use a small number of service providers who process personal information on our behalf, under contract and only on our instructions:

●     beehiiv, Inc.: newsletter platform and website hosting (United States).
●     Google (Google Workspace): email and file storage, including where our outreach records are kept (United States and other locations).
●     Anthropic: we sometimes use AI-assisted tools to help draft and analyse communications; where we do, the only personal information involved is limited contact details such as email addresses (United States).

We may also disclose personal information where required by law, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

8.  International transfers

OTI is based in Australia, and its subscribers and contacts are located around the world, including in the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and United States. The service providers above are located in the United States and elsewhere. Where personal information protected by the UK or EU GDPR is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we rely on the appropriate safeguards those providers have in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, or on an applicable adequacy decision.

9.  How long we keep it

●     Subscription and engagement data: for as long as you remain subscribed, and removed after you unsubscribe (subject to beehiiv’s own retention).
●     Outreach records: reviewed periodically and deleted at 24 months where there has been no engagement.
●     Correspondence: for as long as needed to manage our relationship with you, plus a reasonable period afterwards.
●     Advisory and business records: for the duration of the engagement, and for as long afterwards as we are required to keep them to meet legal, accounting and tax obligations.

10. How we protect it

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including access controls and the security measures provided by our service providers. No system is perfectly secure, but we treat the information you entrust to us with care.

11. Your rights

Depending on where you are located, you may have some or all of the following rights over your personal information: to access it; to have it corrected; to have it erased; to restrict or object to how we use it; to receive it in a portable format; and, where we rely on consent, to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these, email [email protected]. We will respond within the timeframe required by the law that applies to you, and we will not charge you or treat you differently for asking.

12. Complaints

If you have a concern about how OTI handles your personal information, please contact us first at [email protected] so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority:

●     In Australia, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).
●     In the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
●     In the European Union, your local supervisory authority.

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