What This Is About
Unpublic is a Colorado Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). That's not just paperwork, it means we're legally required to balance making money with creating public benefit.
This page explains what that means, what our public benefit purpose is, and how we're doing at achieving it.
Why We're a Public Benefit Corporation
Most corporations are legally required to prioritize shareholder profits above everything else. Public Benefit Corporations are different.
As a PBC, our directors must balance three things:
- Making money for shareholders (yes, we're still a for-profit business)
- The interests of people affected by our work (creators, their families, our team)
- Our stated public benefit purpose (see below)
This legal structure protects us from having to choose profit over purpose. It's baked into our corporate DNA.
Our Public Benefit Purpose
As stated in our Articles of Incorporation filed with the Colorado Secretary of State, Unpublic's public benefit purpose is:
To advance the security, privacy, and safety of creators, artists, public figures, and other content creators through:
- Providing, developing, or facilitating access to privacy and security technologies, tools, and services. We create and deliver practical solutions that help creators protect themselves
- Conducting and publishing research on digital privacy threats, security vulnerabilities, and protective technologies affecting creators and public figures. We investigate real threats and share what we learn
- Advocating for policies, standards, and practices that enhance the privacy rights and digital security of creators. We push for systemic change in how platforms, data brokers, and legal systems handle creator privacy
- Educating creators, the public, and policymakers about digital privacy and security best practices. We make security knowledge accessible to everyone who needs it
As required by Colorado law, our board of directors manages our business in a way that balances:
- The financial interests of our shareholders
- The best interests of everyone affected by our work
- This specific public benefit purpose
In plain language: We exist to make the internet safer for creators, not just by helping individual clients, but by advancing creator privacy and security as a whole through services, research, advocacy, and education.
How We're Doing: Annual Public Benefit Report
Colorado law requires us to publish an annual report explaining:
- How we promoted our public benefit purpose
- What obstacles we faced
- How we performed against a third-party standard
- Our impact on stakeholders
Our most recent annual report: coming in April 2026.
Previous reports:
- No previous reports available
These reports are public documents. Anyone can read them. That's the point - transparency about whether we're actually doing what we said we'd do.
Third-Party Assessment Standard
We measure our public benefit performance against the B Impact Assessment framework developed by B Lab.
Why this standard: The B Impact Assessment evaluates companies across five key areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. It's specifically designed for mission-driven businesses and provides concrete metrics for measuring impact beyond profit.
We chose this standard because:
- It's widely recognized and credible
- It provides specific, measurable criteria
- It's used by similar mission-driven companies
- It holds us accountable to external benchmarks, not just our own assessment
Who This Benefits (Stakeholders)
As a PBC, we consider the interests of everyone affected by our work, not just shareholders.
Our stakeholders include:
Creators and Public Figures
- People who use our services
- People who follow our free educational content
- The broader creator community, even those who've never heard of us
Families of Creators
- Partners, children, and family members whose privacy is affected by a creator's public life
- People who didn't choose public exposure but got it anyway
Our Team
- Employees, contractors, and collaborators who do this work
The Privacy and Security Community
- Other professionals working to protect people online
- Organizations advocating for better privacy protections
Society at Large
- Everyone who benefits from a safer, more equitable internet
- Future creators who deserve better protections than currently exist
What Being a PBC Means Practically
For our clients:
- We prioritize your actual safety over maximizing our revenue
- We'll recommend free or cheaper alternatives when they're better for you
- We won't sell services you don't need just to hit revenue targets
- We'll be honest about what we can and can't do
For how we operate:
- We create and share free educational content (even though it doesn't directly generate revenue)
- We advocate for policy changes that protect creators (even when it's not profitable)
- We make decisions based on mission impact, not just financial return
- We measure success by creators protected, not just dollars earned
For our growth:
- We can choose sustainable growth over maximum growth
- We can turn down clients or partnerships that conflict with our mission
- We can invest in long-term systemic change, not just short-term wins
- We answer to our purpose as much as to our profit
Accountability and Oversight
Board Responsibilities: Our board of directors is legally required to consider our public benefit purpose in all major decisions. They can't ignore mission in favor of money.
Shareholder Rights: Our shareholders can hold us accountable if we fail to pursue our public benefit purpose. They can sue us for not taking it seriously.
Public Transparency: Anyone can read our annual benefit reports. If we're not doing what we said we'd do, you'll be able to see it.
Your Feedback: If you think we're not living up to our public benefit purpose, tell us. Email heythere@gounpublic.com. We're serious about this.
Trade-offs and Challenges
Being a PBC isn't all upside. Here are the real trade-offs:
We move slower sometimes: Making decisions that balance profit, people, and purpose takes longer than just maximizing revenue.
We might be less profitable: Choosing mission over margin means we might make less money than we could as a traditional corporation.
We have extra reporting requirements: Annual benefit reports take time and resources to create. That's time not spent directly serving clients.
We face skepticism: Some people think PBCs are just marketing. We have to prove we mean it through consistent action.
The challenges are worth it because they keep us accountable to what actually matters: making creators safer.
Questions and Contact
Want to read our full Articles of Incorporation? You can find them in Colorado's business database by searching for "Unpublic" at the Colorado Secretary of State website.
Questions about our public benefit purpose or performance? Email us: heythere@gounpublic.com
Want to hold us accountable? Good. That's the point. Share your concerns and we'll address them.
The Bottom Line
We didn't choose to be a Public Benefit Corporation because it was trendy or looked good in marketing. We chose it because it legally protects our mission when profit and purpose conflict.
Being a PBC means:
- We're required by law to care about more than money
- We're transparent about how we're doing
- You can hold us accountable if we drift from our purpose
- Our commitment to creator safety isn't just nice words - it's in our corporate structure
This page will be updated annually with new benefit reports and information about our progress. Check back to see how we're doing.
