This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") outlines the rules for using ScrapeDrive's web scraping API. By using our service, you agree to comply with this policy.
1. Overview
ScrapeDrive provides powerful web scraping capabilities. With this power comes responsibility. This policy exists to ensure our service is used ethically and legally, protecting you, us, and the broader internet ecosystem.
2. Permitted Uses
ScrapeDrive is designed for legitimate business purposes, including:
- Market research: Gathering pricing data, competitor analysis, industry trends
- Lead generation: Collecting publicly available business contact information
- Academic research: Data collection for scholarly studies
- SEO monitoring: Tracking search rankings and SERP data
- Content aggregation: News monitoring, media tracking
- Price comparison: E-commerce price monitoring and alerts
- Data journalism: Investigative reporting and public interest research
3. Prohibited Uses
The following activities are strictly prohibited. Violation may result in immediate account termination:
3.1 Illegal Activities
- Scraping for purposes that violate any applicable law or regulation
- Collecting data to facilitate identity theft, fraud, or financial crimes
- Gathering information for harassment, stalking, or threats
- Violating export control laws or sanctions
3.2 Privacy Violations
- Mass collection of personal data without a lawful basis under applicable privacy laws
- Scraping private or protected content (e.g., behind login walls without authorization)
- Building profiles of individuals for discrimination or targeting
- Collecting sensitive categories of data (health, religion, sexual orientation, etc.) without explicit consent
3.3 Harmful Content
- Scraping to distribute malware or facilitate cyberattacks
- Collecting data to create spam lists or phishing campaigns
- Gathering content for disinformation or fake news campaigns
3.4 Intellectual Property Infringement
- Systematically copying copyrighted content for redistribution
- Scraping to create competing products that infringe trademarks
- Bypassing technical protection measures (DRM) to access protected content
3.5 Service Abuse
- Attempting to overload target websites (DoS-like behavior)
- Circumventing our rate limits or usage restrictions
- Reselling our service without written authorization
- Sharing API keys or allowing unauthorized access to your account
4. Your Responsibilities
When using ScrapeDrive, you are responsible for:
4.1 Legal Compliance
- Understanding and complying with laws applicable to your scraping activities
- Ensuring you have a lawful basis for collecting personal data
- Respecting robots.txt directives where legally required
4.2 Ethical Scraping
- Using reasonable request rates that don't burden target websites
- Respecting website operators' expressed wishes when reasonable
- Being transparent about your data collection practices
4.3 Data Handling
- Securely storing and processing any data you collect
- Implementing appropriate data retention and deletion policies
- Honoring data subject requests (access, deletion, etc.)
5. Rate Limiting and Fair Use
To ensure service quality for all users:
- Respect the concurrent request limits of your plan
- Avoid sudden bursts of thousands of requests
- Implement exponential backoff when encountering errors
- Do not attempt to circumvent rate limits through multiple accounts
6. Monitoring and Enforcement
We monitor usage patterns to detect policy violations. This may include:
- Reviewing API request patterns and target domains
- Investigating reports of abuse from third parties
- Analyzing accounts flagged by automated systems
7. Consequences of Violations
Depending on the severity and nature of the violation, we may:
- Issue a warning and request corrective action
- Temporarily suspend your account
- Permanently terminate your account without refund
- Report illegal activities to appropriate authorities
- Pursue legal action for damages or injunctive relief
8. Reporting Abuse
If you become aware of any misuse of ScrapeDrive, please report it to abuse@scrapedrive.com. Include as much detail as possible, such as:
- Description of the suspected abuse
- Evidence (logs, screenshots, etc.)
- Your contact information for follow-up
9. Legal Disclaimer
ScrapeDrive provides tools for web scraping but does not provide legal advice. You are solely responsible for ensuring your use of our service complies with all applicable laws. We recommend consulting with a legal professional if you have questions about the legality of your scraping activities.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Acceptable Use Policy as needed. Continued use of our service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact
Questions about this policy? Contact us at legal@scrapedrive.com.