Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Rajaneesh G ("we", "us", or "our"), the developer of Explainly, collects, uses, and protects information when you use the Explainly Chrome extension and website at rajaneesh12345.github.io.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Anonymous / Guest Users (No Account)

If you use Explainly without signing in:

• The text you select and surrounding context (up to 600 characters) is sent to our AI backend to generate an explanation. This text is not stored on any server.
• No page URLs, no browsing history, and no personal information are transmitted or stored.
• An anonymous usage counter (anon_count) is stored locally in your browser via chrome.storage.local. It never leaves your device.
• Anonymous usage events (e.g., explanation mode, selection length) may be collected for aggregate analytics. These events do not include the selected text or your identity.

1.2 Signed-In Users (Google Account)

If you sign in with Google:

• Email address: Stored in our Supabase database to identify your account and track usage limits.
• Google OAuth ID: The Supabase user ID linked to your Google account (used for authentication only).
• Daily usage counts: How many explanations you have requested today (general, Deep mode, Why? mode) — stored to enforce free-tier limits and display your usage bar.
• Subscription tier: Whether your account is "free" or "pro" — stored to determine your access level.
• Selected text: Still not stored unless you explicitly save an explanation (see Section 1.3).

1.3 Saved Explanations (Cloud Saves)

If you use the cloud save feature:

• The selected text, AI-generated explanation, mode, source page URL, source domain, and page title are stored in Supabase under your account.
• These saves are private to your account and are not shared with any third parties.
• Free accounts are limited to 50 cloud saves. Pro accounts have higher limits.
• You can delete any saved explanation at any time from the Library.

1.4 Local Storage (On Your Device)

Explainly stores the following data locally in your browser using chrome.storage.local. This data never leaves your device unless explicitly noted:

• Your preferences: theme, trigger mode, layout, font size, popup position, etc.
• Your authentication tokens (Supabase JWT and refresh token) — encrypted at rest by Chrome on supported OS configurations.
• Local save library (if you use "Local" saves mode instead of "Cloud" — max 50 entries, stored only on this device).
• Usage cache for instant display of your daily usage count without a network request.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide the Service: Sending selected text to AI providers to generate explanations.
• To manage accounts: Storing your email and usage counts to enforce tier limits and display your account dashboard.
• To process payments: Passing payment verification to our payment processor (Paddle) to upgrade your account to Pro.
• To improve the Service: Aggregate, anonymised analytics events (e.g., mode usage, error rates, provider performance) to understand how the extension is used and fix issues.
• To communicate with you: We may use your email to send important account-related notices (not for marketing unless you opt in).

3. Third-Party Services

Explainly uses the following third-party services:

• Google Gemini AI — Primary AI provider. Your selected text is sent to Google's Gemini API to generate explanations. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Groq — Fallback AI provider (used if Gemini is unavailable). See Groq's Privacy Policy.
• Supabase — Database and authentication. Your email, usage counts, and cloud saves (if enabled) are stored here. See Supabase's Privacy Policy.
• Google OAuth — Used for sign-in. No passwords are handled by Explainly. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Paddle — Payment processor (Merchant of Record). Handles subscription payments, refunds, and tax. Explainly does not store your card details. See Paddle's Privacy Policy.
• dictionaryapi.dev — Free public dictionary API used for single-word Normal-mode lookups. No personal data is sent.
• Vercel — Hosts the Explainly backend API. See Vercel's Privacy Policy.

4. Data Retention

• Analytics events are automatically deleted after 90 days.
• Cloud saves are retained until you delete them or delete your account.
• Usage counts are reset daily (at midnight UTC).
• Account data (email, tier, usage) is retained while your account is active.

5. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: You can view your saved explanations in the Library at any time.
• Deletion: You can delete individual saves or request full account deletion by emailing us.
• Portability: Contact us to request a copy of your stored data.
• Opt out: You can set Saves mode to "Off" or "Local" in Settings to prevent any data from being sent to our servers.
• Sign out: Signing out removes all authentication tokens from your device immediately.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at rajaneeshg0@gmail.com.

6. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

7. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:

• Authentication tokens are stored in chrome.storage.local, which is encrypted at rest by Chrome on supported platforms.
• All communication between the extension and our servers uses HTTPS.
• Supabase Row Level Security ensures users can only access their own saved explanations.
• We do not store payment card details — all payment processing is handled by Paddle.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

9. Contact Us