Extension Privacy Policy
Last Updated: February 3, 2026
Privacy by Design
This extension is designed to respect your browsing privacy. It does not monitor or record your browsing activity in the background. Data collection is strictly user-initiated.
Data Collection & Analytics
To provide and improve our service, we collect the following information when the extension is activated (click the extension icon):
- Anonymous Unique ID: A randomly generated identifier created upon installation to distinguish unique users without identifying them personally.
- Current URL: The address of the website you are visiting at the moment of activation (sanitized, no params, query strings).
- IP Address: Logged temporarily to power our rate-limiting system. This protects our infrastructure from automated abuse and ensures service stability for all users.
- Interaction Data: Timestamps, frequency of use, and specific interactions within the extension (such as clicking on a suggested alternative) to help us understand which recommendations are most helpful and to optimize our similarity engine
- Secure Transfer: All data is transmitted over HTTPS with our server API's
Note: We do not link these anonymous IDs to real-world identities, names, or email addresses.
Permissions Transparency
In accordance with the Chrome Web Store Minimum Permission Policy, we only request the narrowest set of access necessary. Below is the breakdown of how we use the permissions you grant:
activeTab
This allows the extension to temporarily access the URL of the website you are currently visiting. This access is only triggered when you explicitly click the extension icon to request alternatives, ensuring no background monitoring occurs.
scripting
This permission is used to inject the extension UI also to analyze the public text and metadata (like page titles or descriptions) of the current tab. This only happens if you manually initiate a "Search Alternatives by Page Content" to find relevant software alternatives about a domain that is not in our database.
storage
We use this to store a local map of our currently supported domains and your anonymous unique ID. This enables private "matching" of websites directly in your browser to show potential alternatives number badge on extension icon, so your general browsing activity is never sent to our servers.
Note: We do not "future-proof" this extension by requesting permissions for features not yet implemented. Any future feature updates will require your explicit approval.
Google API Disclosure
The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Specifically, this means:
- We do not sell, rent, or lease your browsing data or page content to third parties.
- Data is only used to provide and improve the core functionality of finding software alternatives.
- We do not use your data for credit-scoring, lending, or any advertising purposes.
Real-Time Insights & Local Processing
You may notice a badge number appearing on the extension icon as you browse. This feature is designed to inform you of available alternatives without transmitting your browsing history to our servers.
How it stays private
The extension uses pre downloaded locally stored map of currently supported domains by our database. The "matching" happens entirely within your browser. No URL data is sent to our backend to generate this badge number.
Background Activity
Your browsing history is never recorded in the background. Our servers only receive a URL when you explicitly request detailed insights by clicking the extension icon.
Content-Based Alternative Search
If you visit a website not currently in our database, you have the option to manually trigger a "Search Alternatives by Page Content." This allows our similarity engine to find alternatives based on the specific topic of the page.
Data Handling Policy
- •What is sent: Only if you click the search button, the page's title, meta description, and public text content are sent to our API.
- •Processing vs. Storage: This content is used temporarily in-memory to generate search vectors. We do not save, log, or store the page text, title, or description on our servers.
- •URL Logging: As with standard requests, only the URL and your anonymous ID are recorded in our analytics database to help us prioritize which sites to index next.
Data Retention & Share
We believe in data minimization. We only store information for as long as it is necessary to provide our services and analyze platform performance. We strictly prohibit the sale or transfer of user data to third parties, including advertising platforms, data brokers, or information resellers.
| Data Type | Retention Period | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics Logs (URL + ID + Clicks) | 12 Months | Improving alternative suggestions, measuring recommendation relevance, and usage trends. |
| Security Logs (IP Address) | Temporary (Minutes) | Rate-limiting to prevent server overload and "scraping" of our database. |
| Abuse Blocklist (IP Address) | Permanent | Preventing persistent malicious actors from accessing our API after multiple violations. |
| Page Content (Title/Text) | 0 Days (Immediate) | Processed in-memory only; never saved to disk. |
| Aggregated Statistics | Indefinite | Non-identifiable totals (e.g., "Total searches in 2026"). |
Note: If you uninstall the extension, your anonymous ID becomes inactive. You may also request data deletion at any time by contacting us with your unique ID.