Terms of Use & Privacy Notice

Terms of Use

1. About these terms

This website is operated by BlackWind Technologies ("BlackWind", "we", "us"), the advisory practice of Dimitri Chernyak, Ph.D., based in Massachusetts, USA. "You" means anyone who visits or uses the site.

2. Information only — not professional advice

Everything on this site is general information about our services and experience. It is not engineering, regulatory, clinical, legal, financial or investment advice, and it does not take your specific circumstances into account. Do not rely on it to make product, regulatory, transaction or investment decisions.

Using the site or sending us an inquiry does not create a consulting, advisory or other professional relationship.

3. Consulting engagements

We provide services only under a separate written agreement, such as a consulting agreement or statement of work, signed by both parties. That agreement sets out the scope, deliverables, fees, confidentiality and other terms, and it prevails over these Terms of Use where they differ.

Descriptions of services, timelines and engagement formats on this site are indicative and may change. We may decline any engagement, for example because of a conflict of interest.

4. Inquiries and confidentiality

We treat every inquiry with discretion and do not share it outside BlackWind except as described in the Privacy Notice below. However, a binding confidentiality obligation exists only once a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or engagement agreement is signed.

5. Intellectual property

The text, graphics, illustrations, logo, design and code of this site belong to BlackWind Technologies or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other laws. You may view and print pages for your own, non-commercial reference. You may not copy, republish, modify or use any part of the site for commercial purposes without our written permission.

6. Third-party names, trademarks and links

Company and product names mentioned on this site — including VISX, AMO, Abbott Medical Optics, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Intelon Optics, STAR S4 IR, iDesign, WaveScan and BOSS — are trademarks of their respective owners. They appear only to describe Dimitri Chernyak's professional history. Their mention does not imply that these companies endorse, sponsor or are affiliated with BlackWind Technologies.

The site links to third-party websites and services, such as LinkedIn and YouTube. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. Their own terms apply when you use them.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the site for any unlawful purpose or in breach of these terms;
• submit false, misleading, abusive or unsolicited promotional content through the contact form;
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, its hosting or related systems, or interfere with their operation;
• scrape, harvest or collect information from the site by automated means.

8. Disclaimer of warranties

The site is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no warranties, express or implied, about its accuracy, completeness, availability or fitness for a particular purpose. We may change, suspend or remove any part of the site at any time.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BlackWind Technologies and Dimitri Chernyak are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data or business opportunity, arising from your use of, or inability to use, this website or its content. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute relating to the site will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Massachusetts.

11. Changes and contact

We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when they were last changed, and continued use of the site means you accept the updated version. Questions about these terms can be sent to blackwindtechnologies@gmail.com.

Privacy Notice

We collect as little personal information as possible, and only to respond to you.

What we collect

• Contact form. Your name, company, email address, the topic you choose and your message.
• Email. Anything you send us directly by email.
• Technical data. Like any website, our hosting provider and the font service (Google Fonts) receive standard technical information such as your IP address and browser type when the page loads.

The site does not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies, and we do not build visitor profiles.

How we use it

We use your information to reply to your inquiry, discuss and prepare a possible engagement, and keep a record of our correspondence. We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not use it for marketing lists.

Who processes it

Contact form messages are delivered to our inbox by Web3Forms, and our email is hosted by Google (Gmail). These providers process the data on our behalf under their own terms and privacy policies. We may also disclose information if required by law. Data may be processed in the United States.

How long we keep it

We keep correspondence for as long as needed to respond, carry out any resulting engagement, and meet legal and accounting obligations. You can ask us to delete it sooner.

Your choices

You can ask us to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you by writing to blackwindtechnologies@gmail.com. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under local law, such as the GDPR or state privacy laws; we will honor those requests as required.

This site is intended for business professionals and is not directed at children under 16.