Platform · Cases, approvals & evidence
A case is a record, an approval is a decision, evidence is proof
Spy Monk turns an issue — a review, an article, a video, an impersonating profile, a threat — into a case with a reference number, an issue summary, fingerprinted evidence and a status history. It shows six fair ways to respond, never a delete button, and nothing leaves your workspace until an authorised member approves the exact text.
Updated By Drive Digital Editorial
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Six fair options, no delete button · SHA-256 on every file · Preview and approval before anything is sent
Direct answer
How do cases, approvals and evidence work in Spy Monk?
A Spy Monk case holds one issue: linked mentions, an issue summary that keeps the claim, your account and your records apart, fingerprinted evidence and a status history. Spy Monk shows six response options with their basis and evidence needs. Nothing is sent until an Admin or Owner approves the exact text, and a handoff is never recorded as sent.
- Six options: request clarification, authorised response, documented policy report, publisher correction, legal review, continue monitoring — no delete option
- Spy Monk sends only from a verified mailbox to a verified recipient; otherwise it hands you the approved draft and records a handoff
- Case reference SM-YYYY-NNNNNN from a gap-free series; evidence up to 15 MB, SHA-256 stored at capture and returned on download
The idea
Why resolution needs a record, not a button
Most reputation damage is made worse by the response. A hurried public reply, an angry email to an editor, a report filed with the wrong reason, a legal threat sent before anyone checked the facts — each of these is harder to undo than the original problem. The people who decide outcomes (a platform's trust team, an editor, a court) respond to specificity, evidence and tone. They rarely respond to volume.
A Spy Monk case is built to produce that specificity. It fixes what is being disputed (the linked mentions and their snapshots), why (your notes and documents), who has looked at it (the status history and events), and who decided that a request should go out (the approval record). When the request is finally sent — by Spy Monk from your verified mailbox, or by you through the platform's or publisher's own channel — it is the product of a process rather than a reaction, and the case keeps the response, whatever it is.
The approval gate is the part people notice first because it slows them down on purpose. Nothing moves from Awaiting Approval to Submitted without an Admin or Owner recording the action and the recipient. For legal escalation a second condition applies: review by a qualified professional. Until that review workflow exists, Spy Monk refuses to mark a legal escalation as submitted at all. We would rather be honest about the gap than let an automated step imply a lawyer looked.
Resolution options
Six ways to respond — and no delete button
For each case Spy Monk shows which options are available, which need more evidence and which need review, with the policy or legal basis in plain words. Platforms, publishers and courts decide outcomes; Spy Monk helps you ask well.
Request clarification
Courteous questions to the reviewer about the date, any earlier contact, whether it was resolved and what would feel fair. No pressure to change the review, and no reply is never treated as evidence.
Available nowPublish an authorised response
A public reply your business can stand behind, approved in Spy Monk and posted from the platform's owner tools — with no customer's private details in it.
Available nowReport a documented policy violation
One item, one report, under a specific published policy, with the exact excerpt, capture time and evidence. Disagreement or a low rating is not a violation.
Available nowRequest publisher correction
The exact statement, its paragraph or video timestamp, the byline and your documentary rebuttal, sent to the editorial desk — respecting editorial independence and never asking for a source.
Available nowRequest qualified legal review
The organised evidence and your questions, sent to a professional you choose before any legal step. Spy Monk forms no legal view and gives no legal advice.
Available nowContinue monitoring
No outreach for now, with the reason and the signals that would change your mind recorded in the case. Often the right answer to genuine criticism.
Available now
From a URL to a tracked message
How a request is prepared, approved and sent
Start from a mention or a URL
Open a case from a flagged mention, or paste the address of a review, article or video. Spy Monk fetches it safely and snapshots it as evidence.
Read the issue summary
Five labelled sections: what the content says (quoted), your account (marked as yours), the records you are authorised to use (references only), what is uncertain, and suggested next steps.
Choose an option and its evidence
Attach the generated audit and the specific exhibits automatically, or choose and upload documents yourself. Each file shows its name, size, sensitivity, fingerprint and who may receive it; files that need redaction cannot go to a reviewer or publisher until they are redacted.
Preview the exact message
Recipient and whether it is verified, sender, reply-to, subject, the full text, attachments, channel, language, any cost and the limitations — all on one screen, drafted from our fair-resolution templates in English or Hindi.
Approve this version
An Admin or Owner approves the exact version. Spy Monk records who approved, when, the version number and a fingerprint of the text; any later edit needs a new approval.
Send, or hand off
With a verified sending mailbox and a verified official recipient, Spy Monk sends the e-mail and records sent and delivered from the provider. Otherwise it gives you the approved draft and the official portal or mail link — and the timeline says handoff, not sent.
Timeline
Correspondence states, kept separate on purpose
Opening an e-mail composer or a portal is not filing or delivery. Each state below is set only by the event that proves it.
| State | What it means | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Draft / Awaiting approval | Being written, or waiting for an Admin or Owner | You |
| Approved | This exact version may be sent; nothing has gone yet | Approver |
| Handoff | The approved draft was handed to you to send yourself | Spy Monk, when no verified route exists |
| Sending / Sent | Spy Monk attempted, then the mail provider accepted the message | Provider event |
| Delivered | The recipient's server confirmed delivery | Provider event |
| Acknowledged / Replied | The recipient confirmed receipt, or answered | Their reply or your proof |
| Declined | The recipient said no | Their reply or your proof |
| Resolution verified | You confirmed the outcome actually happened, with proof | You |
| Could not be sent | The provider refused or the address failed | Provider event |
The pipeline
Eleven stages, in the order they happen
Transitions are validated by the platform; an attempt to skip a stage is refused and logged. Each stage change records who moved the case, from which stage, with an optional note.
Detected
The case is opened from one or more mentions, or manually. It gets a reference number, a type — negative review, news article, video, social post, impersonation, privacy, defamation, blackmail or extortion, harassment, review bombing, other — and a priority from low to urgent.
Investigating
Spy Monk builds an issue summary that keeps apart what the content says, your account, the records you are authorised to use, and what is not established either way. You decide whether this is ordinary criticism, a factual error, a policy violation or something that needs the authorities.
Evidence collected
Snapshots, screenshots, PDFs and documents are attached. Each file is fingerprinted with SHA-256 at the moment of capture; the hash is stored with the file and returned with every download, so anyone can check the file has not changed.
Awaiting approval
The proposed action is written down — a public reply, a request to a publisher, a report to a platform, or a legal escalation — together with the recipient. An Admin or Owner reviews and records the approval. Without one, the case cannot move forward.
Submitted
The approved version goes out — sent by Spy Monk from your verified mailbox to a verified recipient, or by you through the official channel, which the case records as a handoff until you confirm it. The approval is consumed; it is single-use.
Awaiting response
The other side considers it. Spy Monk keeps the timeline — sent, delivered, acknowledged, replied — from provider events or the proof you add; reminders are a Phase 2 automation. Silence is recorded as "no response received", never as proof of anything.
Escalated / Resolved / Rejected
Three honest outcomes. A rejection can be escalated with new evidence or closed; a resolution waits to be verified; an escalation returns to awaiting response.
Outcome verified
You confirm that what was promised actually happened — the correction is live, the profile is gone, the reply is published — and attach the proof.
Closed
The end of the record. Closed cases stay in your workspace with their full history and evidence; nothing is purged by closing.
Product facts
The mechanics, exactly
- resolution options; no delete option exists1
- 6
- correspondence states, handoff distinct from sent1
- 12
- case stages with validated transitions1
- 11
- approval actions: SUBMIT_PUBLISHER_REQUEST, SUBMIT_PLATFORM_REPORT, SEND_REPLY, LEGAL_ESCALATION1
- 4
- case reference, allocated inside the creating transaction1
- SM-YYYY-NNNNNN
- fingerprint stored with every evidence file and returned on download1
- SHA-256
- maximum evidence file size; executables refused1
- 15 MB
- evidence kinds: screenshot, HTML snapshot, PDF, file, note1
- 5
Sources
- Spy Monk case, approval and evidence model
Real-time malware scanning of uploads and write-once (object-lock) storage are production preconditions still being built; until then evidence is immutable through the API and the interface, and the hash lets you detect any change.
Approvals
Nothing leaves Spy Monk without a named decision
An approval is a small record with large consequences: the action (reply, publisher request, platform report or legal escalation), the target — the recipient or route, in words — an optional note, the approver and the time. Only Admins and Owners can create one, and only while the case is awaiting approval.
Three rules keep it meaningful:
- Single use. Moving to Submitted consumes the newest active approval. A new round of action needs a new approval.
- Leaving the stage voids the rest. If a case is sent back to evidence collection or closed, every outstanding approval is voided. Yesterday's permission does not carry over to a changed plan.
- Legal escalation needs more. An approval for legal escalation must also carry a professional review. The reviewer flow is being built; until it exists the platform returns a clear refusal rather than a quiet success.
DRS never posts to a platform on your behalf. It sends an e-mail only when the sending mailbox and the official recipient are both verified and the exact version is approved; otherwise it hands the approved draft to you, and the timeline says handoff — not sent. Drafts that threaten someone, try to identify a reviewer or a source, report content in bulk, present a notice as coming from an authority, or include someone's private data are held for review and not sent.
Evidence
What makes evidence usable later
Evidence collected in a hurry is often useless months later: a screenshot without a URL, a saved page with no date, a file that has been edited and re-saved. Spy Monk captures evidence in a way that stays usable.
Snapshots from the workspace. From any mention you can capture the page's HTML through a fetcher that resolves the address once, refuses private networks and pins the connection — so the snapshot is of the page you asked for. The capture time and SHA-256 hash are stored with it.
Uploads with fingerprints. Screenshots, PDFs and documents up to 15 MB can be attached to a case. Executable file types are refused. The hash computed at upload is stored and sent back as a header on every download, so a recipient can verify it independently.
Write-once intent. Evidence rows are never overwritten and cannot be edited through the API. Object-lock storage, which enforces this at the storage layer as well, is a production precondition on the roadmap and is tracked openly in our release gates.
What evidence is not. A snapshot proves what a page said at a moment in time. It does not prove that the statement was false, that a reviewer never visited, or that a post is unlawful. Those are conclusions for people — sometimes qualified professionals — to reach from the evidence, which is exactly why Spy Monk stores it rather than judging it.
Availability
Case features by status
- Cases with type, priority, linked mentions, notes and eventsAvailable now
- Eleven-stage pipeline with validated transitions and a full historyAvailable now
- Case intake from a URL or a mentionAvailable now
- Issue summary: content, your account, authorised records, uncertainties, next stepsAvailable nowAI may help draft it when configured; it never asserts facts.
- Six resolution options with eligibility, basis and required evidenceAvailable now
- Fair-resolution drafts for every option, English and HindiAvailable nowPending counsel review of the wording (legal-review register LR-29).
- Evidence picker: auto or manual, sensitivity, audience, redaction, fingerprintAvailable now
- Correspondence preview and approval with version and text fingerprintAvailable now
- Sending from a verified mailbox with provider delivery states; handoff otherwiseAvailable nowNeeds a verified sending mailbox for your workspace; until then every option is a handoff.
- Misuse guard: unsafe drafts held for review, never sent silentlyAvailable now
- Evidence snapshots and uploads with SHA-256 fingerprintsAvailable now
- Professional-review step for legal escalationPhase 2Until it ships, legal escalation cannot be submitted; the refusal is explicit. Requesting legal review from counsel is available.
- Reminders and follow-up automation on awaiting-response casesPhase 2
- Review verification against your customer recordsPending feasibilityNeeds CRM and review connectors; an unmatched reviewer is never treated as proof of anything.
- Real-time malware scanning of uploads; object-lock storagePhase 2Production preconditions tracked in the release gates.
- Available now
- Available now11 items
- Phase 2
- Phase 23 items
- Pending feasibility
- Pending feasibility1 item
Questions
Case and evidence questions
Does Spy Monk send the request for me?
Only when your workspace has a verified sending mailbox, the recipient is a verified official address and an Admin or Owner has approved the exact version. Then Spy Monk sends it and records sent and delivered from the mail provider. Otherwise it gives you the approved draft to send through the platform's or publisher's own channel, and records a handoff — not a sent message.
Why is there no option to delete the content?
Because Spy Monk cannot delete anything on someone else's platform, and pretending otherwise would mislead you. Platforms, publishers and courts decide what stays up. Spy Monk offers the six options that can actually lead somewhere — from a clarification request to a documented policy report — and records what happens.
What happens if my draft is held for review?
Nothing is sent. The draft matched something Spy Monk does not send without a person checking it — for example a threat, an attempt to identify a reviewer, or someone's private details. You can edit it, or wait for the review team; a counsel-authorised exception is recorded by an admin with its reference.
Who can approve an action?
An Admin or Owner of your workspace. Analysts can investigate, collect evidence and propose actions; Viewers can read. Role names and seat counts are set by your plan.
What happens if the platform or publisher says no?
The case moves to Rejected. You can escalate with new evidence, verify the outcome and close, or simply close it. The rejection and its reasons stay in the record for any later step.
Can I use Spy Monk evidence in a legal proceeding?
Spy Monk stores files with capture time and a SHA-256 hash, which helps show integrity. Whether and how evidence is admissible is a question for a qualified professional in your jurisdiction; Spy Monk does not give legal advice.
Can a closed case be reopened?
Closed is the end of the pipeline today; case reopening with a quality review is a Phase 2 item. You can open a new case and link the same mentions and evidence.
Is anything deleted when I close a case?
No. Closed cases keep their history, mentions and evidence. Retention after account closure is covered in the draft privacy notice.
Start from the evidence
The free audit shows what is out there and preserves the first snapshots. Cases come later, if they are needed at all.
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