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I founded Veritrace after more than twenty years in law enforcement, where I learned the difference between information that is merely interesting and information that will hold up when it counts.
Origin
For more than twenty years I worked in law enforcement, where a conclusion is only as good as your ability to show how you reached it. Every finding had to be documented, justified in writing, and able to survive challenge in a courtroom or a hearing.
Open-source intelligence demands exactly the same discipline. The tools are different, but the failure mode is identical: an investigator who cannot show their working has not produced evidence, only an opinion. I started Veritrace so that never happens on a client's file.
That background is the point of the firm. You are not hiring a database subscription or a search service. You are hiring someone who has spent a career gathering information that has to stand up, and who will treat your matter the same way.
Principles
No pretexting, no impersonation, no circumvention of access controls, no hacking, no purchasing of unlawfully obtained data. If a brief can only be met that way, we decline it and tell you why. That answer protects you as much as it protects us.
Nothing material enters a report on a single source. Where corroboration is not available, the finding is marked unverified rather than quietly upgraded to fact.
Our reports state plainly which parts are observed fact, which are reasonable inference, and which are speculation we are flagging for your awareness only. The three are never blended into a persuasive paragraph.
Engagements are not disclosed, referenced or used as marketing material without written consent. Case studies on this site, when they appear, will be fully de-identified or expressly approved.
Some questions cannot be answered from open sources. Some subjects have almost no digital footprint. Some assets genuinely are not findable. We would rather return a short report saying so, early, than bill for a long one that says nothing.
Tradecraft
Open source is a wide category. In practice a Veritrace file draws on some combination of the following, selected against the intelligence requirement rather than run as a checklist.
Public record
Digital
Analytical
Compliance
Investigative work in Australia sits inside a real regulatory frame. The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles govern how personal information is collected, stored, used and disclosed. Investigator licensing is administered separately in each state and territory, with different scopes and different obligations. Surveillance devices legislation varies again by jurisdiction.
We treat all of that as a design constraint rather than an afterthought. Every engagement records a lawful basis and legitimate purpose. Collection is limited to what the purpose requires. Retention periods are defined and enforced. Client data is held in Australia.
Where a matter crosses into a jurisdiction or activity outside our licensed scope, we say so and, where appropriate, refer it on. That is not caution for its own sake. Evidence gathered outside the frame is evidence you cannot use.
Work with us
New clients usually start with one file. Send the outline and we will scope it, price it and tell you honestly what open sources can and cannot deliver.