Privacy Policy
Version 0.1-draft · Effective 2026-09-13
CiteScope monitors whether AI answer engines cite your business, and prepares fixes when they don't. This policy explains what we collect to do that, why, where it is stored, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It is written to meet Canada's federal privacy law (PIPEDA) and British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act.
Who we are
CiteScope is operated by Kenneth Chow. Privacy questions and requests go to privacy@kenhlchow.com. That inbox is monitored by the person accountable for this policy.
What we collect
- Account details. Your email address and a password (stored only as a hash by our sign-in provider), plus which organization you belong to.
- Business information you give us. Your business name, website address, region, and the competitor websites you want compared against.
- Information from public web pages. We read your public website and your competitors' public pages to build a profile of what your business offers, and we save the answers AI engines give to buyer-intent questions about your market. This is information about businesses. We do not seek out personal information in it, and we do not build profiles of individuals.
- Free-audit requests. If you request a free audit, we collect your name, email address, and business website, together with a record of the consent you gave: its source, time, and exact wording.
- Usage and billing. Records of the work run for your account and what it cost, and, once billing launches, subscription and invoice details handled by Stripe.
- Technical data. A sign-in cookie so you stay logged in, and standard server logs. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.
Why we collect it
- To run the service: query answer engines about your market, detect citations, and prepare drafts.
- To send you what you asked for: monthly reports, audit results, and account or budget alerts.
- To bill you and keep the records Canadian tax law requires.
- To keep the service secure and to respond to your requests.
- To meet legal obligations, including the record-keeping that Canada's anti-spam law requires.
We collect only what these purposes need. We do not sell personal information and we do not use it for advertising.
How AI is involved
The service works by asking AI answer engines buyer-intent questions about your market and checking whether they cite you. Those questions, and public content from your website, are sent to the engines listed below through their official interfaces. Your account details are never included. Draft content is produced by a model running on our own hardware and edited with Anthropic's models; every draft is reviewed by a person before it reaches you, and anything AI-assisted is labelled as such. We do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.
Where it is stored
Our database and files are hosted in the United States, and the providers above process data there. While in another country, information may be accessible to that country's authorities under its laws. By using the service you consent to this transfer. We choose providers with strong security practices and contractual commitments, and we keep your data in as few places as the service allows.
How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account and organization details | While your account is open, then removed with your last subscription data below |
| Raw answers captured from AI answer engines | 12 months from capture |
| Evidence files (captured citations) | Duration of your subscription plus 6 months |
| Drafts, deliverables, and monthly reports | Duration of your subscription plus 12 months |
| Free-audit requests that do not become customers | 24 months, then deleted |
| Consent records (what you agreed to, when, and how) | Duration of our relationship plus 3 years |
| Billing records | As long as Canadian tax law requires (currently 6 years) |
When a period ends, the data is deleted or made anonymous.
Security
Data is encrypted in transit, access in the database is restricted per organization, and provider keys are held server-side only. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.
Your rights
- Ask what personal information we hold about you and how it is used.
- Ask us to correct anything inaccurate.
- Withdraw consent, subject to legal or contractual restrictions; we will explain the consequences.
- Ask us to delete your information, which we will do unless a retention obligation above applies.
- Unsubscribe from any marketing email using the link in the message, at no cost and without logging in.
Send requests to privacy@kenhlchow.com. We respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
We send marketing email only with your consent, and every such message identifies us, includes our mailing address, and carries an unsubscribe link that keeps working for at least 60 days. Messages you asked for, such as an audit report, a monthly report, or a billing notice, are sent without marketing consent but still identify us.
Children
The service is for businesses and is not directed at minors. We do not knowingly collect their information.
Changes
When this policy changes, the version and effective date at the top change with it, and material changes are announced to account holders by email before they take effect.