Privacy Policy

ScamCheck AI is an AI-powered scam detection application designed to help individuals identify and report scam messages, links, QR codes, calls, and emails. ScamCheck AI is available worldwide on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We are committed to protecting your privacy regardless of where you use the App, while building a safer digital community everywhere, with particular regulatory attention to the GCC, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, where we maintain dedicated compliance provisions described in Section 12.

This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why, and how it is stored, and describes your rights. It is designed to comply with applicable data protection laws generally, including the EU/UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), UAE PDPL, Saudi Arabia PDPL, India's DPDP Act 2023, Bangladesh's Digital Security Act 2018, the Philippines Data Privacy Act 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), and other applicable national data protection laws, as well as Apple App Store and Google Play Store requirements.

On your first launch, ScamCheck displays the following notice before any data is processed:

You must acknowledge this before using the app. This satisfies consent requirements under Apple App Store guidelines, Google Play Store Data Safety requirements, and applicable data protection laws in your jurisdiction, including (where applicable) UAE PDPL, India DPDP Act 2023, Bangladesh Digital Security Act 2018, Philippines Data Privacy Act 2012, GDPR, and CCPA.

ScamCheck collects data through the specific features described below. We collect only what is needed to detect scams, alert you in real time, and build a shared scam-intelligence database that protects the wider community. We do not sell, rent, or use this data for advertising or behavioural profiling.

4.1 Device Registration

When you first open the App, the following is recorded to register your device:

• A device identifier (Android ID or iOS vendor identifier) — not your name or phone number
• Device model, operating system version, and manufacturer
• Device locale and your selected in-app language
• Approximate location, used to determine your country

4.2 Manual Scanning (Message, Link, QR, Phone, Email, Call)

When you submit content for scanning, our AI analyses it and returns a risk assessment. The scan result — including the content you submitted, the AI's risk score, category, and explanation — is stored together with your device identifier and approximate country, regardless of the risk score returned.

4.3 Automated Shield (Android Only)

If you enable Automated Shield, ScamCheck reads the text content of notifications from supported messaging apps (including SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram) on your device, in order to score each message for scam risk in real time using our backend AI. Routine, platform-generated notifications (such as "liked your photo" or "started following you") are filtered out automatically and are never sent for analysis.

If a message scores above our risk threshold, you receive an on-device alert, and the message content, AI risk assessment, your device identifier, and approximate country are stored — the same way a manual scan result is stored.

4.4 Report a Scammer

When you submit a report via "Report a Scammer," the following is recorded:

• The reported phone number or email address (the suspected scammer's, not yours)
• A screenshot, if you choose to upload one — used only to extract the phone number or email shown in it; the image itself is not retained after extraction
• The selected scam category and your description (if provided)
• Your device identifier, approximate country, date and time of the report

4.5 Scam Alerts & Push Notifications

ScamCheck sends periodic scam-awareness alerts via push notification (through Firebase Cloud Messaging), informing you of current scam trends relevant to your region. Receiving these requires only a notification token managed by Firebase; no personal data is included in the notification content itself.

4.6 Report to Authorities

ScamCheck can connect you directly with the appropriate cybercrime authority for your country, providing the correct reporting number and official portal link based on your country. This lookup does not transmit any personal data about you — it simply matches your country to our pre-built authority directory.

4.7 Web Scanner (scamcheck-ai.com/scan)

ScamCheck AI provides a free web-based scanner at scamcheck-ai.com/scan that allows anyone to check suspicious messages, links, emails, or phone numbers directly from a browser without downloading the app. When you use the web scanner:

• The content you submit is sent to our AI for analysis and the result is returned to you immediately.
• The scan result — including the submitted content, AI risk score, category, and explanation — is stored anonymously in our scam-intelligence database, without any device identifier, account information, or personal data attached.
• No cookies, session identifiers, or tracking technologies are used to identify you across visits.
• Your IP address is not stored.

4.8 Data We Never Collect

• Your device's contact list or address book
• Audio from your microphone, or any call recordings
• Payment, banking, or financial account information
• Your browsing history outside the App, or third-party advertising identifiers
• The content of notifications from apps you have not enabled Automated Shield to monitor

Scan results, Shield detections, and scammer reports are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to power the App's scam-intelligence database and community protection features.

• Scan, Shield, and report data: Automatically deleted within 90 days, unless retained longer for an active investigation or a legal obligation.
• Uploaded screenshots: Never retained — processed only to extract the relevant phone number or email, then discarded.
• Device registration data: Retained for as long as the App remains installed on your device.

We do not currently offer an in-app self-service tool to view or delete your specific data; to request deletion, contact us as described in Section 11.

• To detect and flag scam content for the protection of all users
• To train, improve, and validate our AI scam detection models
• To build a community-driven scam intelligence database protecting users worldwide, with particular focus on the GCC, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines
• To generate anonymised regional scam trend reports shown in the Scam Alerts feature
• We do not sell, rent, or share data with third parties for commercial or advertising purposes
• We do not use data for user profiling or behavioural targeting of any kind

We do not sell, rent, or share your data with third parties for their own commercial, advertising, or analytics purposes.

Your data is processed by the infrastructure and AI service providers we use to operate the App (currently Amazon Web Services and OpenAI), strictly as data processors acting on our instructions to deliver the App's functionality — not as independent third parties who use your data for their own purposes.

Our official in-app Data Safety and App Privacy declarations on each store are the authoritative, most current statement of our data practices for that platform.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you have the right to:

• Know what scam content data (if any) was stored from your submission
• Request deletion of specific data you submitted (e.g., a specific phone number or message)
• Withdraw consent at any time by uninstalling the app — no further data is collected
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

ScamCheck AI is available worldwide, and this Privacy Policy applies to all users regardless of location. We rely on your consent, given at first launch, and on our legitimate interest in scam prevention and community protection, as the lawful basis for processing in every jurisdiction in which the App is used.

Below we set out specific compliance commitments for the jurisdictions where ScamCheck AI has the largest user base and has accordingly implemented dedicated regulatory provisions. This list is illustrative, not exhaustive: if your country is not named below, the general data practices, rights, and safeguards described throughout this Privacy Policy still apply to you in full, and we comply with the mandatory data protection law of your country of residence to the extent it applies to our processing.

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date and notify users via an in-app notice on the next launch. Continued use of ScamCheck after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

This Privacy Policy is publicly accessible at www.scamcheck-ai.com/privacy-policy as required by Apple App Store and Google Play Store submission guidelines.