Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information ShipScout collects, why we collect it, how we use it, and the choices you have. We follow the principles of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India) and apply industry-standard security controls.

1. Who we are

ShipScout (“we”, “us”) operates the trade-intelligence platform at shipscout.ai and the related sales / support portals. Our registered office address is listed on the Contact page.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide:

• Account details — name, work email, phone number, company name, designation;
• Billing details — billing address, GSTIN (where applicable);
• Communication content — emails, support tickets, demo notes, feedback;
• Payment instrument metadata — we do not store card numbers or CVV. All card / UPI / netbanking data is collected and tokenised by our PCI-DSS-compliant payment partner Cashfree Payments.

Information collected automatically:

• Log data — IP address, browser type, OS, referring page, pages visited, timestamps;
• Usage data — searches you run, filters applied, records exported;
• Cookies — session cookie used for login state. We do not run third-party advertising trackers.

3. Why we use it

• To create and manage your account, authenticate you, and provide the Service;
• To process payments, issue invoices, and (where eligible) refunds;
• To respond to support requests and operational communications;
• To analyse usage in aggregate so we can improve features and reliability;
• To comply with applicable law (e.g. tax records, anti-fraud screening).

4. Sharing & third parties

We share personal information only with the following processors, and only to the extent necessary:

• Cashfree Payments — payment processing, refund initiation, fraud screening.
• Google (Workspace, Calendar, Meet) — demo invites, transactional email, calendar sync.
• Meta (WhatsApp Business Cloud API) — messaging follow-ups where you have opted in.
• Hostinger / Hetzner — cloud hosting for the platform; data resides in Asia-Pacific region.
• Statutory authorities — where compelled by valid Indian legal process.

We never sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertising networks.

5. Data retention

• Account & billing data: retained for as long as your account is active, plus seven (7) years thereafter for tax / audit compliance.
• Support emails: 24 months from the last interaction.
• Server logs: 90 days, then aggregated and stripped of personally identifying fields.

6. Security

• All traffic between your browser and our servers is encrypted with TLS 1.2+;
• Passwords are stored as one-way salted hashes (we cannot recover them);
• Database backups are encrypted at rest and access is restricted to named senior engineers;
• We log and review administrative actions on customer data.

No system is perfectly secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, write immediately to [email protected].

7. Your rights

You may at any time:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Correct inaccurate data;
• Delete your account and request erasure of associated data (subject to mandatory legal retention);
• Object to processing for marketing or analytics purposes;
• Withdraw any consent you have previously granted.

Send these requests to [email protected]. We acknowledge within 48 hours and resolve within 30 days.

8. Children

The Service is not directed to anyone under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.

9. Cross-border transfer

Some processors (e.g. Google, Meta, Cashfree) may store data on infrastructure outside India under their own data-protection commitments. By using the Service you consent to such transfers, subject to the safeguards listed in their published policies.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service evolves or as the law changes. Material changes will be notified by email to your account address at least seven (7) days before they take effect.

11. Contact & grievance officer

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, write to [email protected]. The contact details of our Grievance Officer (per the IT Rules, 2021) are listed on the Contact page.