Log in Start free

Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated 24 June 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Espresso Dev (Pty) Ltd ("MentionScout", "we", "us" or "our") collects, uses, shares and protects information when you use the MentionScout website and application (the "Service"). MentionScout tracks how a brand is mentioned and cited across AI answer engines, plus community listening and AI-crawler analytics. By using the Service you agree to the practices described here.

Who we are

The data controller for the Service is Espresso Dev (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2015/437542/07), located in South Africa. If you have any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at [email protected].

Information we collect

  • Account details. Your name, email address, password (stored hashed), and workspace settings.
  • Billing information. Payments are handled by Paddle acting as our Merchant of Record. Paddle collects and processes your payment details directly; we do not store full card numbers. We receive limited billing data such as your plan, subscription status, country and the last few digits of your payment method.
  • Content you enter. The brand names, domains, aliases, prompts, competitor names and related tracking configuration you add to measure your AI visibility.
  • Product usage. Logs, device and browser metadata, pages viewed, and feature interactions used to operate, secure and improve the Service.
  • Crawler analytics. If you connect our Cloudflare-based crawler analytics, we collect request-level data about AI crawlers and referrers visiting your site (for example user agent, requested path, timestamp and referring source).

How we use your information

  • To provide, operate and maintain the Service, including running your prompts against AI answer engines and reporting the results.
  • To manage your account, authenticate you, and process billing through our payment provider.
  • To monitor, secure, debug and improve the Service.
  • To communicate with you about your account, service updates, security notices and support requests.
  • To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

Data we send to AI engines

To measure your visibility, the prompts you configure are submitted to the AI answer engines you choose to track (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode). Those engines process the prompt text to generate a response, which we then analyse for mentions, citations and sentiment. Do not include personal, confidential or sensitive information in your prompts that you would not want submitted to a third-party AI provider.

Sub-processors

We rely on a limited set of trusted third parties to deliver the Service. These currently include:

  • AI answer engine providers. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI, and Perplexity, which receive your prompts in order to generate the responses we measure.
  • Paddle. Our Merchant of Record and payment processor.
  • Cloud hosting and infrastructure. Our hosting, database, queue and content-delivery providers that store and serve application data.

Sub-processors may change as the Service evolves. We will keep this list current and contract with each sub-processor to protect your data consistent with this policy.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the sub-processors above to operate the Service, where required by law or legal process, or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets (in which case we will notify you). We do not provide your content to AI providers for the purpose of training their models, and we do not use your content to train third-party models through our use of the Service. Some providers offer modes that exclude API inputs from model training; where a provider's terms allow, we configure our integrations to avoid training on your content, but we cannot control a provider's independent practices beyond their published terms.

Cookies and analytics

We use strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and to secure the Service, and we may use privacy-respecting analytics to understand aggregate usage. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling necessary cookies may affect how the Service works.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under the GDPR, UK GDPR or the CCPA, including the right to access, correct, delete, port or restrict the processing of your personal information, and to object to certain processing. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Data retention

We retain your account and content for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Service. Historical tracking data may be retained according to your plan's retention settings. When you close your account, we delete or anonymise personal information within a reasonable period, except where we must keep it to comply with legal, tax or accounting obligations or to resolve disputes.

International transfers

We and our sub-processors may process your information in countries other than your own, including the United States. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms recognised under applicable law.

Security

We protect your data using encryption in transit, access controls and managed hosting. For more detail, see our Security page. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children

The Service is intended for business use and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age required by applicable law.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Email [email protected].