Privacy notice

1. Who is responsible

The responsible party is VisaRequest (Pty) Ltd, trading as SayScope. Its supplier, contact and Information Officer details are published on the Legal information page.

2. Information we process

• Account information: age-group confirmation, name, email address, mobile number, password hash, verification status, account status and administrator-security records.
• Security and usage information: session identifiers, hashed request identifiers, login-attempt records, AI operation type, estimated tokens/costs, timestamps and technical error records.
• Device and app information: browser or Android System WebView user-agent information, device category, screen and viewport dimensions, IP address and technical diagnostics needed to deliver and secure the service. SayScope does not request an Android advertising ID, precise location, contacts, camera or broad device-storage access.
• Optional website analytics: after consent on the website, public marketing-page paths without query strings, page titles, general browser/device information, referral source, campaign measurement identifiers, clicks, scroll milestones and time on page. Website Google Analytics may derive approximate location, such as country, region or city, from the IP address; this does not require GPS access. Public-page click records may include a short visible button label and page coordinates. Workspace, billing, administrator and authentication form activity is excluded; only content-free registration events are recorded on website signup and email verification. Server-side Meta conversion measurement is currently disabled. If enabled after consent, completed-registration measurement may use a one-way hash of the verified email address together with campaign/browser identifiers, technical request information and a deduplication identifier. This excludes conversation, form-field and payment content.
• Billing information: selected credit pack, PayFast transaction references and amounts for website purchases, or Google Play order references, purchase tokens, product and payment status for Android purchases, plus credits and ledger entries. A one-way identifier links a Google Play purchase to the SayScope account. Purchase tokens are kept privately on the server for verification and recovery. SayScope does not receive or store full card details.
• Conversation content: WhatsApp exports are inspected and parsed in the browser and saved on the device first. When cloud storage is available, the user can choose Continue Locally or Upload to Cloud. Choosing cloud upload synchronizes parsed messages, conversation details, selected supported media and saved AI results to the user's account. The original ZIP is not uploaded. Older browser-only conversations are uploaded only after the user selects and confirms migration. Browser copies support offline use.
• AI inputs and outputs: only content selected for a transcription, question, insight, attachment analysis or generated file is sent to the AI service for that operation.
• Media request recovery: when enabled, SayScope temporarily stores voice-note transcripts and attachment analyses privately with account-owned request identifiers, content hashes and credit references, including for chats kept locally. This lets the device retrieve a completed result after an interrupted connection without another AI charge. Recovery does not store the uploaded source file.
• Support correspondence and AI reports: information a person chooses to send when requesting help, exercising a privacy right or reporting a problem. An in-app AI report sends the account email, chosen reason, optional details and an output excerpt only if the person selects and reviews it. Reports are delivered to SayScope support through the email provider for safety review; source chats, questions and files are not attached automatically. Child-safety reports must contain safe context or references rather than illegal material.

Conversation exports can contain personal information about participants who are not SayScope account holders, including names, contact details, opinions, images, voice recordings and potentially special personal information. Users must have a lawful basis and authority to process that content.

3. Sources, purposes and necessity

Account, support and payment information comes from the account holder, PayFast or Google Play. Conversation content comes from the user's selected export and may relate to other participants. We process information to create and secure accounts, supply requested features, prevent abuse, administer credits and payments, provide support, meet legal obligations and establish or defend legal claims.

Account fields marked as required are necessary to create and protect an account. Supplying a chat export or invoking an AI feature is voluntary, but the selected feature cannot operate without the relevant content. Refusing required payment information means a live credit purchase cannot be completed.

4. Local storage and cookies

Browser and Android app WebView copies remain until the user deletes them, clears site or app data, uninstalls the app, or a connected device learns that its cloud conversation was deleted. Incoming Android shares can remain in private app cache for retry across restarts until replaced, evicted by Android or removed with app storage; pending exports are removed after success, cancellation or a subsequent fresh launch. Account copies are held in the SayScope database and private media storage for cross-device access. SayScope uses an essential, secure, HttpOnly session cookie to keep a user signed in. Optional first-party website activity, Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and consent-respecting server-side Meta conversion measurement operate only after an affirmative analytics choice and can be rejected without losing product access. Raw first-party activity, campaign attribution and conversion-delivery records become eligible for cleanup after 90 days. Cleanup runs through hourly application maintenance during service use; after inactivity, removal resumes on the next maintenance run. See the Cookie and local-storage notice.

5. Recipients and operators

• hosting, database and email delivery providers that operate the service;
• OpenAI, when the user deliberately invokes an AI feature;
• PayFast, when the user starts a website payment;
• Google Play Billing, when the user purchases Android credits; Google handles checkout and payment details, and SayScope sends the account identifier and purchase token to Google for verification and completion. Google does not receive chat content through this billing integration;
• Google Fonts, to supply the website and Android app's typography. Font requests send the IP address, requested font URL and technical browser headers to Google for font delivery and security. This service does not set cookies or use those requests for user profiles or targeted advertising; see Google Fonts privacy information;
• Google Analytics and Meta Pixel/Conversions API, only for optional website and advertising measurement after consent;
• Capacitor and Android system components, which provide the SayScope Android app shell, WebView, document picker and share handling on the device;
• professional advisers, auditors and authorities where reasonably necessary or legally required.

The current SayScope Android app does not include Firebase, Google Mobile Ads or another native advertising SDK. The Android app does not load the optional website measurement tools described above or record optional first-party marketing events, including when a previous website analytics choice is stored. Essential account, security, billing and operational usage records still support the app's functions. SayScope does not sell personal information. If the app's services or SDKs change, this notice and the Google Play Data safety declaration must be updated before the changed collection or sharing begins.

API content is not used by OpenAI to train its models unless the API customer explicitly opts in. Depending on the endpoint and account controls, OpenAI may retain customer content for abuse monitoring or application-state purposes. SayScope sends Responses API requests with storage disabled, but the provider's documented abuse-monitoring rules still apply. Audio transcription has different documented retention characteristics.

6. Cross-border processing

OpenAI and other infrastructure providers may process information outside South Africa. Cross-border processing must be limited to circumstances permitted by POPIA section 72, including appropriate contractual or other legally recognised safeguards. The responsible party maintains and periodically reviews its provider and transfer records.

7. Retention

• browser-local chats remain until the user deletes them, clears site data or a connected device observes deletion of its cloud copy;
• live cloud conversations and media are removed when the user deletes them, subject to normal backup retention; offline browser copies on other devices are invalidated when those devices reconnect;
• temporary media recovery records are accessible for 24 hours from the request timestamp and removed by the next hourly application-maintenance run; clear-uploaded-data and account-deletion operations remove these records and invalidate old recovery requests. During service inactivity, physical cleanup resumes at the next maintenance run. Credit-ledger evidence remains subject to the billing retention policy;
• expired sessions, password-reset tokens, verification tokens and temporary security challenges are deleted through scheduled or application maintenance;
• login-attempt records are retained briefly for abuse prevention;
• account records are kept while the account is active and then deleted or de-identified when no longer lawfully required;
• required accounting and credit-ledger evidence is retained through the current financial year and the previous seven completed financial years, and for at least five years after submission of the relevant tax return where applicable. Unfiled returns, audits, disputes and lawful holds can extend the necessary evidence; uploaded conversation content is not retained for accounting;
• routine security and administrator-audit evidence has a 90-day retention limit. Necessary evidence for a named investigation may remain until closure plus 90 days or the end of an applicable legal preservation requirement;
• support and deletion correspondence has a 180-day retention limit after the request closes. Unnecessary verification attachments are removed after verification;
• PayFast recurring tokens are removed after verified cancellation. The Google Play token-retention target is 60 days after verified final subscription expiry or revocation, or verified top-up consumption, once acknowledgement, refunds and reconciliation are settled. Necessary unresolved billing evidence remains restricted until resolution;
• routine database and private-file backups have a 30-day expiry target. Existing archives and provider snapshots whose expiry is not verified remain documented exceptions with restricted restore access; completed deletions must be suppressed before any restore is promoted. Deletion manifests remain while a pre-deletion backup can be restored and for 30 further days; content-free completion receipts remain for at least 180 days after closure.

When self-service account tools are enabled, Clear uploaded data deletes live account-owned conversations, messages, uploaded media, saved AI results and import records while preserving the account and the billing, credit, legal, security and audit records described above. The self-service Delete account action first starts a cancellable 24-hour window, revokes access and cancels recurring billing; after the window, SayScope deletes uploaded content and credentials and replaces direct account identifiers with an anonymous tombstone needed for restricted retained evidence.

Use the public SayScope account and data deletion page for request instructions, including when the app is no longer installed. Account suspension or deactivation is not treated as an account-deletion request.

Current-device account-linked IndexedDB copies are cleared by the account tool. SayScope cannot remotely erase inaccessible or offline devices, and legacy browser-only records that cannot safely be attributed to the account remain unless the user chooses the separate all-local-data action. Active-system deletion does not instantly remove immutable backups or limited records that PayFast, OpenAI, email, analytics, hosting or other providers may lawfully retain under their documented safety or legal policies.

These are SayScope's adopted retention limits and operational targets, not universal Apple or Google periods. Retention is reviewed monthly and after a hold ends. A target does not promise that an unverified provider snapshot or pending billing record has already been erased; backup and provider exceptions remain tracked until their actual end event is confirmed. Providers may retain records under their own documented safety or legal requirements, and SayScope requests deletion or restriction when the relevant purpose ends. Records are deleted or de-identified when no longer required; retained evidence is restricted to its stated purpose.

8. Security and incidents

Measures include encrypted HTTPS transport, server-only provider credentials, password hashing, verified email, expiring sessions, administrator 2FA, access controls, rate and spend limits and transaction validation. No internet service can promise absolute security. Where POPIA requires it, the responsible party will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects of a security compromise.

9. Your rights

A data subject may ask whether personal information is held, request access, request correction or deletion where legally available, object to processing, withdraw consent where consent is relied on, opt out of optional analytics, or complain. Use Cookie choices to change analytics consent, the account and data deletion page for deletion instructions, or contact info@sayscope.co.za. Identity may be verified before fulfilling a request.

Complaints may also be submitted to the Information Regulator at POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za or 010 023 5200.

10. Children and changes

SayScope accounts are available only to adults aged 18 or older. Signup asks for an age-group confirmation before collecting account details; it does not collect an exact date of birth or establish verified age assurance. Accounts are not available to anyone under 18.

A parent or guardian may contact the responsible party about a child-safety concern without sending the child's profile, identity documents or conversation exports. The Child-safety standards explain safe reporting. Adult users must also have an appropriate legal basis and safeguards before processing another child's information. We will identify material changes by publishing a new version and, where appropriate, require renewed acceptance.