Privacy Policy
Your scrolling stays with you.
Effective date: August 27, 2026
Who we are
ScrollScout is built by Henno Fourie, an independent developer ("we", "us"). Contact: hello@scrollscout.app.
This policy covers the ScrollScout iOS app, the ScrollScout Chrome extension, and the scrollscout.app website.
What stays on your iPhone
- Your intentions and check-ins — what you type before opening an app, time windows, walk-aways, cumulative intentional-moment totals, days on purpose, and reflections are stored locally on your device.
- Your selected apps — chosen through Apple's Family Activity Picker and stored as opaque tokens on your device. Outside the specific Partner Mode events you approve, your pause-list selection never leaves your device. If you enable Partner Mode, an app's display name is shared only when you walk away from it or queue it to leave the pause list.
- Screen Time data — shields and activity monitoring are performed by Apple's Family Controls and Device Activity frameworks, on-device, under Apple's own privacy protections. ScrollScout receives no browsing history, no app-usage logs, and no content from other apps, and transmits none.
Deleting the app deletes this on-device data. Partner Mode data stored in iCloud is controlled separately as described below. We could not hand over your on-device Screen Time data if asked, because we never have it.
The Chrome extension
The Chrome extension handles only the information needed to provide its visible check-in and feed-hiding features:
- Sites and browsing activity — the extension checks the address of a page to determine whether it matches a site you chose. It stores your selected domains and feed settings locally in Chrome.
- Intentions and visit windows — the intention you type, the duration you choose, session timestamps, and the time and visit totals shown in the popup are stored locally in
chrome.storage.local. - Feed Mode — when you choose Hide feeds and approve access for that site, the extension checks the page route and structure so it can hide the selected feed areas and place Scout's check-in banner. It does not record page text, searches, messages, videos, posts, or account information.
The extension makes no network requests and sends no settings, intentions, browsing activity, page content, analytics, or identifiers to us or to any third party. Chrome keeps each profile's extension data separately. Removing the extension or clearing its data deletes this local browser data.
ScrollScout's use of information received from Chrome APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use Chrome permissions and locally handled data only to provide or improve ScrollScout's single purpose: helping you interrupt automatic browsing on sites you choose. We do not transfer this data, use it for advertising or creditworthiness, or allow people to read it.
What leaves your iPhone
- Purchases (RevenueCat). Subscriptions are processed by Apple. We use RevenueCat to validate receipts and manage subscription status. RevenueCat receives an anonymous app-user ID and purchase history — never your name, Apple ID, or payment details. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.
- Usage analytics (PostHog). To understand where the app confuses or loses people, the app sends anonymous product events (e.g. "onboarding step viewed", "paywall viewed") to PostHog. These events describe screens inside ScrollScout — never your activity in other apps — and are not tied to your name or identity. See PostHog's privacy policy.
Partner Mode
Partner Mode is optional and requires both people to consent. It uses Apple's CloudKit service to share directly through iCloud with the one person you choose. We do not operate a server that receives this data.
Your partner can see when you walk away from a paused app (including that app's name), your weekly totals, and when you queue an app to leave the pause list or stop pausing apps. Your partner cannot see what you do inside apps, your intention or reason text, slips, catches, location, happy hour, or a history of individual app opens.
A short-lived six-character invitation record maps your code to Apple's private share link and expires after seven days. Each person's paired records remain in their private iCloud database and a CloudKit share visible only to the partner. Either person can end pairing from Settings at any time; this immediately stops future sharing and removes access. Creating a new pairing requires a fresh invitation and consent.
What we never do
- We do not sell your data, ever.
- We do not show ads or share data with ad networks for targeting.
- We do not store or transmit content from websites you visit or activity inside other apps.
- We do not require an account, email, or phone number to use the app.
Notifications
Check-in, check-out, daily recap, and weekly recap reminders are local notifications, scheduled and delivered entirely on your device. If you opt into Partner Mode, CloudKit can send notifications for the limited partner events described above. You can turn recap summaries off in ScrollScout, end pairing at any time, or turn all notifications off in iOS Settings.
The website
scrollscout.app is a static site hosted on Vercel. Vercel may collect standard server logs (IP address, user agent) to serve and secure the site. We run no cookies or analytics scripts on it.
Children
ScrollScout is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your rights
Because most of your data lives on your device, most rights (access, deletion) are in your hands: delete the iPhone app, remove the Chrome extension, or clear their local data. Depending on where you live (e.g. GDPR in the EU, POPIA in South Africa, CCPA in California), you may have additional statutory rights; we honor them regardless of where you are.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the effective date above. Material changes will be called out in the app's release notes.
Contact
Questions, concerns, or requests: hello@scrollscout.app