Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

When you register for a MarketScout account, place a referral link, or use our affiliate tools, we collect the following information:

• Account Information: Your name, email address, and password (stored as a bcrypt hash). You may also provide a referral code when you sign up.
• Affiliate Data: Your Amazon Associates tag, affiliate codes you generate per product, and your chosen display name or creator slug.
• Commission and Earnings Data: Records of clicks, conversions, commission amounts, and payout history stored in your commission ledger.
• Usage Data: Pages you visit, clicks you make, and how you interact with product listings. Collected via Polsia Analytics (beacon-based, lightweight).
• Technical Data: IP address (hashed before storage), user agent, and session cookies used to maintain your login state.
• KYC Data: If you submit identity verification documents, we store your legal name, date of birth, country, phone number, ID type, and ID number. These are stored separately and accessed only by designated administrators.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your information is used solely to operate the MarketScout platform and facilitate affiliate earnings:

• Platform Operation: To create and maintain your account, authenticate you on login, and deliver the affiliate discovery and tracking features.
• Commission Tracking: To record clicks on your affiliate links, attribute sales to your codes, calculate commissions, and update your balance in real time.
• Payouts via Stripe Connect: To initiate bank transfers to your connected Stripe Express account, verify your identity for payouts, and process payout requests.
• Email Communications: To send you login credentials, payout notifications, tier upgrade notices, and optional product alerts (Pro users). We never sell your email to third parties.
• Platform Improvements: Aggregated, anonymized usage data helps us understand which categories and products perform best so we can improve the platform.

3. Third-Party Services

MarketScout integrates with the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies:

• Amazon Associates Program: When you click an affiliate link, you are directed to Amazon.com or Amazon.sa. Amazon collects your purchase data under their privacy policy. We do not receive your payment or order information from Amazon.
• Stripe Connect: Your bank account and payout data are managed by Stripe. MarketScout initiates transfers on your behalf and receives payout status updates. See the Stripe Privacy Policy.
• Polsia Infrastructure: MarketScout runs on Polsia's cloud infrastructure. Your account data is stored in a PostgreSQL database managed by Polsia. Polsia's infrastructure is GDPR-ready and SOC 2 compliant.
• Google Fonts & External Resources: Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts with their own privacy policy. Product images are served via Cloudflare R2.

4. Cookies and Analytics

MarketScout uses cookies to keep you logged in and to understand how you use the platform:

• Session Cookies: An httpOnly session token cookie authenticates you when logged in. It is scoped to this domain only and has a 30-day expiration.
• Polsia Analytics: A lightweight beacon snippet tracks page views and category navigation on MarketScout. No personal data (name, email) is sent to Polsia. IP addresses are hashed before transmission. You may opt out by disabling JavaScript in your browser.
• No Advertising Cookies: We do not use third-party advertising trackers, Google Analytics, or any remarketing pixels.

5. Data Retention and Security

• Retention: Account data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you request deletion, we delete your account data within 30 days, except commission ledger records required for tax and audit purposes (retained for 7 years).
• Security: Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Session tokens are httpOnly and encrypted in transit (TLS). KYC documents are stored with restricted admin access only.
• Data Breaches: In the event of a confirmed data breach affecting your personal data, we will notify affected users within 72 hours of discovery.

6. Your Rights

You have the following rights over your personal data:

• Access: You may request a copy of all data we hold about you by emailing support@marketscout.com.
• Correction: You can update your name, email, Amazon Associates tag, and profile settings at any time from your dashboard.
• Deletion: You may delete your account from the dashboard settings. We will remove your PII within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
• Data Portability: We can export your commission history, earnings, and click data as a CSV on request.

7. Affiliate Commission Data

Your commission earnings and click data are stored in the MarketScout commission ledger. This data:

• Is used exclusively to calculate your earnings, display your dashboard, and process payouts.
• Is not shared with Amazon, Stripe, or any third-party advertiser.
• May be shared with your designated upline creator for downline commission attribution purposes (only your affiliate code and earnings amount, not your PII).
• Is retained for 7 years for tax reporting and audit purposes.

8. Children's Privacy

MarketScout does not knowingly collect personal information from users under the age of 13. Registration requires you to confirm you are at least 18 years old. If we become aware that a minor has created an account, we will suspend that account immediately.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make a material change, we will post the updated policy here and update the "Last updated" date. We will notify you via the email address on your account for significant changes. A 30-day notice period applies for any material changes to how we use your data.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, contact us: