Data Sourcing & Takedown
Last updated: 24 September 2026
Where our data comes from
Trawline provides information that third-party social platforms make publicly available to anyone, and processes it, including with automated and AI-assisted processing, to deliver the results our customers request.
What we never do:
- We never provide content that can be seen only after logging in, paying or being given access by its owner, and we never get around login screens, paywalls or other access controls.
- We never return a field for anyone's e-mail address, phone number or postal address.
- We do not provide downloads of other people's videos or media files.
- We do not build, keep or sell a database of people.
- We do not try to infer sensitive characteristics about anyone.
What we return. Structured public information — such as names, handles, counts, dates, public posts and comments, and transcripts or AI-assisted summaries of public videos. Free text is returned as its author published it, so it can contain details the author chose to make public. We may choose not to return some free-text fields, such as account bios on some platforms, because they often contain contact details. Every AI summary is labelled "AI-generated opinion, not a verified fact."
Trawline is not affiliated with or endorsed by any platform.
How long we keep anything
Results may be kept temporarily for up to 24 hours to deliver the Service, and are then deleted automatically. Those temporary copies are not linked to the customer who requested them. We keep no database of people and no per-customer record of what was requested, apart from short-lived technical logs used to run and secure the Service.
Why we may process public content
We rely on legitimate interests: ours in providing a data service, and our customers' in using public information for purposes such as research, analysis and content work. We keep that processing narrow — public information only, kept for no more than 24 hours, no profiles of people — and our Terms forbid customers to use results against the people they are about. We cannot contact everyone whose public content passes through the Service, so this page and our Privacy Policy are how we inform you.
If your public content passed through Trawline
You are not our customer, but you have rights, and we will answer you. Write to blairephantom@gmail.com with:
- the public URL(s) of the profile, post or video concerned;
- what you are asking for — information about what we hold, an objection, erasure, or a review of an AI summary you believe is wrong;
- how we can reach you;
- if you act for someone else, such as a child in your care or a person who has authorised you, who that is and why you may act for them.
If you ask about an account, we may ask you to show that it is yours, or that you may act for its owner, before we act. We use what you send us only to deal with your request. We reply within one month and tell you what, if anything, we hold; usually the answer is nothing, or a temporary copy that expires within 24 hours. Requests about children's content are dealt with first.
What we can and cannot do
| If you ask us to… | What happens |
|---|---|
| Tell you what we hold | We check and tell you. Usually we hold nothing, or a temporary copy that expires within 24 hours. |
| Delete a temporary copy of your content | Temporary copies are deleted automatically within 24 hours. |
| Stop processing your public content (an objection) | We review your objection against the interests involved and tell you, within one month, our decision and what we will do. |
| Review an AI summary about you | Tell us the URL and what is wrong. Summaries are labelled as opinion and are kept for no more than 24 hours; we review every report. |
| Tell you who requested your content | We keep no per-customer record of what was requested, so we are generally unable to tell you. |
| Delete copies our customers already have | Each customer is responsible for its own copies as an independent controller. Our Terms require customers to comply with data-protection law and to answer such requests. |
| Remove your original post | Only you or the platform can. Once it is removed or made private, it can no longer be retrieved through Trawline after any temporary copy has expired, within 24 hours. |
If a customer misuses results against you
If you believe someone is using Trawline results to harass, track, profile, impersonate or otherwise target you, report it to blairephantom@gmail.com with what happened and any evidence you have. We review every report and can suspend or terminate the customer's access. We cannot always identify the customer involved, and we will tell you what we were able to do.
Copyright
If you own the rights in content returned by Trawline, see our Copyright Policy.
Illegal content
If a result contains child sexual abuse material or other clearly illegal content, report it to us at blairephantom@gmail.com and to the competent authorities. Please include where it appears (the URL, or the request identifier if you are a customer), why you believe it is illegal, and, if you wish, how we can reach you. We act on reports promptly, and we do not knowingly process such content.
Platforms
A platform that wants to contact us about Trawline can write to blairephantom@gmail.com.
Complaints
If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to a data-protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live or work or where you believe an infringement took place.