Privacy Needle Launches Free Global Sanctions Screening Tool for Businesses and Compliance Teams

Know who you’re doing business with before signing the next contract.

A company is about to sign a contract with a new overseas supplier. The paperwork looks legitimate, the pricing is competitive, and negotiations have gone smoothly. But has anyone checked whether the supplier’s name appears on an international sanctions list?

That question is becoming increasingly important for businesses managing cross-border transactions, international partnerships and third-party relationships.

Privacy Needle has launched Privacy Needle Check, a free online screening platform designed to help individuals and organisations conduct preliminary checks against official United States and United Nations sanctions records.

The platform is available at https://check.privacyneedle.com.

Users can enter a person’s or organisation’s legal name, search indexed sanctions records, review potential name matches and download an initial screening receipt.

No registration or subscription is required.

A Free Starting Point for Business Due Diligence

Sanctions screening is an important component of many organisations’ Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and third-party risk management procedures.

Financial institutions, procurement departments, legal professionals, digital platforms and businesses operating internationally may need to screen customers, contractors, suppliers or counterparties, depending on their jurisdiction and regulatory obligations.

However, smaller businesses frequently lack access to sophisticated commercial compliance platforms.

Privacy Needle Check provides an accessible starting point for reviewing publicly available sanctions information.

Its initial database covers two major sources:

• US OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List: Records maintained by the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
• United Nations Security Council Consolidated List: Individuals and entities listed under applicable UN Security Council sanctions regimes.

At launch on November 10, 2026, the platform’s database contained 20,570 records across both sources, with 43,373 indexed names and aliases. These figures reflect that import and may change following subsequent source updates.

The platform also displays source freshness information, helping users identify when the underlying records were last successfully imported.

How Privacy Needle Check Works

Using the platform takes three straightforward steps.

Step 1 — Enter a name. Visit check.privacyneedle.com and enter the legal name of an individual, company or organisation.

Step 2 — Review the screening results. The system searches the indexed sanctions records and highlights possible matches, including published names, aliases and source references.

Step 3 — Download a screening receipt. Users can generate a PDF documenting the initial search, its timing, available sources and findings for their internal records.

A potential name match does not establish that the searched person or company is sanctioned. Users must compare relevant identifying details with the official source and undertake appropriate further due diligence.

Similarly, a search returning no candidates is not a legal clearance or proof of regulatory compliance.

Built for Businesses, Professionals and Digital Platforms

Privacy Needle Check is particularly relevant to procurement teams evaluating suppliers, startup founders onboarding international partners, freelance marketplaces reviewing counterparties, compliance personnel conducting preliminary research and business owners exploring new commercial relationships.

The platform also supports learning and professional awareness by connecting users to practical explanations of OFAC screening, UN sanctions, vendor due diligence and politically exposed person (PEP) screening.

The current version does not perform EU sanctions screening, PEP verification, official company-registration checks or complete KYC and AML assessments. Those activities require additional information sources and processes.

Part of the Growing Privacy Needle Ecosystem

Privacy Needle Check expands the publication’s work beyond data protection reporting into practical digital trust and risk-awareness resources.

It joins Privacy Needle Games, which offers interactive cybersecurity and privacy education at https://play.privacyneedle.com, and Privacy Needle Sentinel, the security awareness and attack-simulation platform at https://sentinel.privacyneedle.com.

Together, these initiatives provide resources for organisations seeking to understand privacy obligations, strengthen staff awareness and improve how they approach digital security.

Privacy Needle Check is independently operated and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the US Treasury, United Nations or any other sanctions authority.

Try Privacy Needle Check for Free

Before onboarding a new supplier, engaging an international contractor or signing a commercial partnership, consider whether sanctions screening should form part of your due diligence.

Privacy Needle Check offers a free place to begin.

Visit https://check.privacyneedle.com to run an initial sanctions name check.

No account. No subscription. Search available public records, review possible matches and download your screening receipt.