Privacy Policy
Last updated: December 9, 2025
Summary: We don't log your URLs. We don't track you. We don't sell data. Your data is used only to provide the URL transparency service.
Information We Collect and Why
LinkTransparency collects minimal data necessary to provide the URL transparency service. This section describes all information collected, how it's used, and with whom it's shared.
What happens when you reveal a link
- The URL is sent to our API server
- We follow redirects and strip tracking parameters
- We return the transparent URL to your browser
- The URL is NOT stored on our servers
What We Collect
On your device (browser extension storage)
| Data Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Recent history (last 10 URLs) | Allow you to review recently checked links | Until you clear it or remove the extension |
| User preferences | Remember your settings (e.g., telemetry opt-out) | Until you remove the extension |
| First-run flag | Show onboarding only once | Until you remove the extension |
This data never leaves your device. It is stored using chrome.storage.local (not synced to cloud). You can clear it anytime by removing the extension.
On our servers
We log minimal metadata only for abuse prevention and rate limiting:
| Data Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| IP addresses (hashed) | Rate limiting to prevent abuse | 7 days |
| Request timestamps | Rate limiting calculations | 7 days |
| Response status codes | Monitor service health | 7 days |
| Error types | Debug service issues | 7 days |
We do NOT collect or log:
- URLs you check (neither the original nor the cleaned URL)
- URL paths or query parameters
- Browsing history
- Personal identifiers
- Cookies or tracking data
Anonymous Usage Statistics
LinkTransparency collects anonymous usage statistics to help us understand how the extension is used and improve the product. This is entirely optional and can be disabled in Settings.
What we collect (when enabled)
- Domain categories (e.g., "social", "ecommerce") — NOT the actual URLs or domain names
- Redirect chain length — How many hops a link took
- Warning events — When lookups fail (timeouts, blocked sites)
- Browser locale — Your language/region setting (e.g., "en-US")
- Scan method — How you initiated the scan (hover icon, popup)
- Tracking params removed — Count of parameters stripped
What we DO NOT collect
- URLs or domain names you visit
- Personal information of any kind
- Browser fingerprints
- User identifiers or session IDs
- Cookies or browsing history
- IP addresses (in metrics data)
How to opt out
You can disable usage statistics at any time:
- Click the LinkTransparency icon
- Click the Settings gear icon
- Toggle off "Share anonymous usage data"
The extension works fully without telemetry enabled.
Data retention
Aggregated usage statistics are retained for 90 days, then deleted. We do not store individual-level data — all metrics are pre-aggregated before being sent to our servers.
How We Use Your Information
We use the limited information we collect for the following purposes only:
- To provide the service: Process URLs to reveal their destinations and remove tracking parameters
- To prevent abuse: Rate limiting based on IP addresses prevents service overload
- To improve the service: Anonymous, aggregated usage statistics (when you opt-in) help us understand common use cases
We do NOT use your data for: Advertising, user profiling, data brokering, or any purpose unrelated to providing the URL transparency service.
Data Sharing with Third Parties
Cloudflare (Infrastructure Provider)
Our API runs on Cloudflare Workers. When you use LinkTransparency:
- Cloudflare processes your request as part of their infrastructure
- Cloudflare may log IP addresses and request metadata per their standard practices
- We have no control over Cloudflare's data practices for their infrastructure logs
See Cloudflare's privacy policy for details on how they handle data.
No Other Third Parties
We do not share, sell, rent, or trade your data with any other third parties. We do not use:
- Third-party analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics)
- Advertising networks
- Data brokers
- Social media tracking pixels
Limited Use Disclosure (Chrome Web Store Compliance)
LinkTransparency's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Specifically, LinkTransparency:
- Only uses data necessary to provide the URL transparency functionality
- Does not transfer user data to third parties except as necessary to provide the service (Cloudflare infrastructure)
- Does not use or transfer user data for purposes unrelated to the extension's single purpose
- Does not use or transfer user data to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes
- Does not sell user data
Rate Limiting
We use IP-based rate limiting to prevent abuse. We don't use fingerprinting or tracking cookies.
Permissions explained
| Permission | Why we need it | What we can't do |
|---|---|---|
activeTab |
Read the URL when you right-click | Can't see other tabs or pages |
contextMenus |
Add right-click menu option | — |
storage |
Save your history locally | Can't sync to our servers |
Third parties
We don't share any data with third parties. No analytics. No ads. No tracking pixels.
Data requests
Since we don't store URL data, we can't provide it if requested. IP addresses in server logs are the only potentially identifying information we retain, for 7 days maximum.
GDPR & CCPA Compliance
Because we don't log URLs or track users:
- There is no personal browsing data to export or delete
- We don't create user profiles
- We don't sell data (there's nothing to sell)
IP addresses used for rate limiting are automatically deleted after 7 days.
Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
LinkTransparency does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. Our extension is designed to provide URL transparency without collecting personal data from any users, regardless of age. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately at ritesh@firmislabs.com and we will take steps to delete such information.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access your data: The only data stored locally (browser history of last 10 URLs) can be viewed in the extension popup
- Delete your data: Clear your local history through the extension settings or by removing the extension entirely
- Opt-out of analytics: Disable usage statistics collection in the extension settings
- Data portability: Since no personal data is stored on our servers, there is no data to export
For questions about your rights or data practices, contact us at ritesh@firmislabs.com
International Data Transfers
Our API infrastructure runs on Cloudflare Workers, which may process requests across their global network. However, we do not log or store URL data regardless of processing location. Only temporary metadata (IP addresses for rate limiting) may be processed, and this data is automatically deleted after 7 days.
Data Security
We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:
Data in Transit
- HTTPS encryption: All communication between the extension and our API uses TLS/HTTPS encryption
- No plaintext transmission: URLs and responses are never sent over unencrypted connections
Data at Rest
- Local storage only: Your URL history is stored locally using
chrome.storage.localand is never synced to cloud - No server-side URL storage: We do not store URLs on our servers, so there is no URL data at rest to protect
Infrastructure Security
- SSRF protection: Our API blocks requests to private IP addresses and internal networks
- Rate limiting: Prevents abuse and denial-of-service attempts
- Cloudflare protection: Benefits from Cloudflare's DDoS protection and security features
Changes to this policy
We will notify users of any material changes to this privacy policy by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes that affect your privacy rights, we will also post a notice in the extension popup. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Your continued use of LinkTransparency after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Contact us at: ritesh@firmislabs.com
We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 48 hours.
Open source
Our code will be open source soon. You'll be able to verify everything we claim here by reviewing the source code directly.