Privacy Policy

Mailbox Search Console (“the Service”) is an internal business tool that lets an authorised company user check whether a specific email exists in a set of Gmail mailboxes that have each explicitly granted the Service access. This policy explains what data the Service accesses, how it is used, and how it is protected.

1. Google account data we access

When a mailbox owner connects their Google account, the Service requests the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly scope. This scope is used only to:

• run Gmail searches on the server side for criteria entered by an authorised user (for example a subject line or sender);
• read the metadata of matching messages: message ID, thread ID, subject, sender, date, and whether an attachment is present;
• confirm the mailbox address and that the authorisation is still valid;
• let specifically authorised staff open and read individual messages, and download their attachments, from a connected mailbox when this is needed for the business purpose agreed with the mailbox owner.

Opening a message and downloading an attachment are restricted to users who have been granted that permission by an administrator, and every such access is recorded in the audit log with the user, mailbox and message concerned. Message bodies and attachments are shown or downloaded on demand and are not stored by the Service. The Service never sends, modifies, or deletes email.

2. What we store

• The connected mailbox address and a client label chosen by the administrator.
• OAuth access and refresh tokens, encrypted at rest with a key held only on the server. Tokens are never shown in the dashboard or written to logs.
• Search results: the metadata fields listed above for the newest matching message per mailbox, plus a found / not found / error status.
• An audit trail of who ran which search, who opened which message or attachment, and when.

3. How the data is used and shared

Data is used solely to produce the consolidated search reports requested by authorised company users. It is not sold, shared with third parties, or used for advertising. The Service’s use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

4. Security

All traffic uses HTTPS. Tokens are encrypted with authenticated symmetric encryption. Access to the dashboard requires a company login with role-based permissions, failed logins are rate limited, and every sensitive action is recorded in an audit log.

5. Revoking access

A mailbox owner can revoke the Service’s access at any time from their Google Account permissions page. An administrator can also remove a mailbox from the dashboard, which revokes the stored token at Google and deletes it from the Service.

6. Retention

Tokens are kept until the mailbox is disconnected. Search results and audit entries are kept for as long as the company needs the reports and can be deleted on request.

7. Contact

Questions about this policy or requests to delete data should be sent to the company administrator who operates this deployment.