Last updated 25 August 2026

Privacy policy.

This policy explains what information we collect when you use this website and the Send a Scout tool, how we use it, and the choices you have. We keep this deliberately short, because the site is built to collect as little as possible.

The short version

We use our own cookieless measurement and Google Analytics to count visits, and advertising cookies from Google, Meta and TikTok to measure the ads we run on Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. These set cookies in your browser. We do not sell your personal information. The only personal data the site itself asks for is a website address you want checked, and an email address if you choose to have the report sent to you. We sell software, not data about the people who visit.

Who we are

This site is operated by Hesk Consulting Pty Ltd, based in New South Wales, Australia. For any question about your privacy or this policy, contact us at hello@hesk.com.au.

What we collect and why

Send a Scout submissions. When you use Send a Scout, we collect the website address you submit so we can run the audit you asked for. If you ask to have the report emailed to you, we also collect that email address so we can send it. You do not need an account, and we do not ask for anything else.

Technical and security data. To keep the free tool from being abused, we process your IP address and a bot-protection token when you submit a request. This is used to apply rate limits and to tell real people from automated traffic. Our hosting provider also records standard request information, such as IP address, browser type and the time of the request, to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.

Analytics. We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used: which pages people visit, how they arrived, and roughly where in the world they are. Google sets cookies in your browser to recognise a return visit and derives an approximate location from your IP address. We use this in aggregate, to decide what to write and what to fix.

Alongside pages viewed, we record a small number of actions: requesting a Scout report and whether one came back, asking for a report by email, and which buttons and plans people click. The website address you had checked is recorded with the report event. The email address you may give us is not sent to Google. We record only the fact that someone asked for a report by email.

Our own measurement. Separately from Google, we keep a record of those same visits on our own servers, so we can tell which of our pages and campaigns actually lead somewhere. It sets no cookies. Your browser stores two random identifiers, one for the browser and one for the visit, and sends them with the same short list of actions described above, along with the campaign tags on the link you arrived by, the site that referred you, and whether you are on a phone. We do not store your IP address: it is used only to limit how often one machine can send us data, and is then discarded. We do not store your full browser details or your email address either. If you request a Scout report, these identifiers are recorded against it, which is how we can tell which campaign a report came from. This information goes to us and to nobody else. Clearing your browser's site data removes the identifiers, and the site keeps working normally.

Joining up visits to the app. If you go on to create an account, we pass the analytics identifier from the cookie above, and the two identifiers described in the paragraph above, to https://app.searchlings.com, so that one visit is not counted as two people. When a subscription starts, our payment provider tells our servers, and our servers report the sale to Google Analytics against that same identifier. What is sent is the plan, the amount and the identifier. Never your name, email or card details. Advertising and personalisation are switched off for every measurement we send, in the browser and from our servers alike.

Advertising measurement. We advertise on Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and this site carries measurement tags from each of those companies so we can tell which of those ads led somewhere. Google's tag records that you arrived from one of our ads and whether you went on to request a Scout report or start signing up, and stores an identifier for that ad click in a cookie so the two can be joined. We do not use it to build advertising profiles of you beyond that, and we do not send Google your name, email address or the website address you had checked. Meta's tag works similarly: it records the pages you view and the same short list of actions described above, and reports them to Meta Platforms along with your IP address and a cookie identifier. Meta may match that to your Facebook or Instagram account if you have one, use it to attribute a visit to an ad, and use it to build audiences for our future ads. We do not send Meta your name, your email address or the website address you had checked. TikTok's tag works the same way as Meta's, reporting those same pages and actions to TikTok along with your IP address and a cookie identifier, which TikTok may match to your TikTok account, use to attribute a visit to an ad, and use to build audiences for our future ads. It is not given your name, your email address or the website address you had checked either. If you would rather not be measured this way, Meta's ad preferences, TikTok's privacy settings and Google's My Ad Center all let you limit this, as does your browser's tracking protection. Blocking any of these tags does not change how this site works.

Cookies. This site sets the Google Analytics measurement cookies described above, Google's advertising cookie (_gcl), the Meta Pixel cookie (_fbp) and the TikTok Pixel cookie (_ttp). The last three are used for the advertising measurement described above. We do not sell your personal information. You can block or delete these cookies in your browser at any time, or install the Google Analytics opt-out add-on, and the site will keep working normally.

How your information is shared

We do not sell your personal information. We share the advertising measurement described above with Google, Meta and TikTok, and nothing else about you is shared for advertising. Otherwise we use a small number of service providers to run the site, and they process data only on our instructions:

• Cloudflare provides hosting, content delivery and the bot protection on the Send a Scout form.
• Supabase runs the audit service that produces your report from the website address you submit.
• Google provides the analytics that count visits to this site, and receives the advertising measurement described above so we can tell whether our Google ads work.
• Meta Platforms receives the advertising measurement described above, so we can tell whether our Facebook and Instagram ads work.
• TikTok receives the advertising measurement described above, so we can tell whether our TikTok ads work.
• Stripe processes subscription payments in the app. It tells our servers when a subscription starts, which is what we report to Google Analytics as a sale.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect our rights, users and the security of the service.

Where your data is processed

Our providers may store and process data on servers located in other countries. Where that happens, we rely on those providers to protect your information to a standard consistent with this policy and applicable law.

How long we keep it

• Audit reports are cached for about 24 hours per website address, then refreshed on the next request.
• If you gave us an email address for a report, we keep it until you ask us to remove it.
• Security and server logs are kept only as long as needed to operate and protect the service.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected, or to have it deleted. You can ask us to stop emailing you at any time. To make any of these requests, contact us at hello@hesk.com.au. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may have the right to complain to the privacy regulator in your country.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold, including using reputable providers and limiting what we collect in the first place. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children

This site and the Send a Scout tool are intended for businesses and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be made clear on the site.

Contact us

If you have any question about this policy or how we handle your information, contact Hesk Consulting Pty Ltd at hello@hesk.com.au.