Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 6, 2026

ContextSnap is a Chrome extension that explains content you are looking at, in place, on the page you are already on. This policy describes exactly what leaves your computer, where it goes, what is kept and for how long. It is written to be specific rather than reassuring.

ContextSnap is operated by Pham To Linh, an individual based in Vietnam, who is the controller of the personal data described here. Contact: thetristanlinh@gmail.com.

1. What is sent, and to whom
2. Screen capture
3. What is stored on your computer
4. What our server stores
5. IP address and country
6. Payments
7. Service providers
8. Why we may process your data
9. International transfers
10. Limited Use disclosure
11. Your choices and rights
12. Age requirement
13. Changes to this policy
14. Contact

1. What is sent, and to whom

When, and only when, you ask for an explanation, the following is sent to our server, which adds our API key and forwards it to Google's Gemini API (generativelanguage.googleapis.com). Our server does not store it.

We use Google's paid Gemini API service. Under Google's terms for paid services, Google does not use your prompts or the answers to improve its products. Google keeps them for a limited period only to detect and prevent abuse of its service.

Web search (Pro plans only). If you turn on web search or press a web search button, Gemini may run Google searches to check its answer and add sources. Your question text then reaches Google Search. Under Google's terms, data used for search grounding is kept by Google for 30 days. Web search is off unless you turn it on.

Never sent: the address (URL) of the page you are on, the page title, your browsing history, other tabs, cookies, form data you did not select, your name or your email.

2. Screen capture

This is the most sensitive thing the extension does, so here is exactly how it works. When you start a capture (with the right-click menu or a keyboard shortcut):

1. The extension asks Chrome for a picture of the visible area of the tab you are on, using the activeTab permission that Chrome grants only after you invoke the extension on that tab.
2. That picture is shown over the page for a moment so you can drag a box on it. It exists only in your browser's memory.
3. Only the region you drew is cropped, downscaled and sent. The rest of the picture is discarded and never leaves your computer.
4. Nothing is written to disk or to extension storage.

A technical detail, stated plainly. The frozen picture and the answer panel are drawn inside the page you are on. In the current version, a script running on that same page could technically read what they show while they are open. The picture only shows what that tab was already displaying. We plan to close this off in a future version.

What the extension cannot do: capture your screen outside the browser, capture other tabs, capture a tab you have not invoked it on, or capture anything in the background. It uses chrome.tabs.captureVisibleTab only.

3. What is stored on your computer

Not stored anywhere: your conversations, the text you selected, the images you captured, your clipboard contents.

4. What our server stores

Our server never stores the text you selected, the images you captured, your questions or the answers, and does not write them to any log.

Our server keeps no log files. While we are investigating a problem we can watch short status lines live, such as this one when a request to Google fails:

{"evt":"upstream_error","status":429,"googleStatus":"RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED","googleMessage":"Resource has been exhausted","model":"...","plan":"free","colo":"ORD"}

These lines contain error codes, Google's short error message, your plan type and, when a request is refused for regional reasons, a two-letter country code. They never contain your content, IP address or device identifier.

5. IP address and country

Your requests travel over the internet, so your IP address is visible to our hosting provider, Cloudflare, and to Google, as it is to any website you open. We use it in two narrow ways and never store it:

• Abuse prevention. Cloudflare's rate limiter counts requests per IP address for about one minute, to stop one person from flooding the service.
• Regional availability. Cloudflare tells our server which country a request comes from, so we can refuse requests from places where Google's Gemini API is not available.

6. Payments

Paid plans are sold by Dodo Payments, which acts as our merchant of record. When you buy, Dodo Payments collects your payment details, name, email address and billing address, processes the payment and handles tax. We never see or store your card details.

Dodo Payments shares with us what we need to provide and support your plan: your name and email address, your country, what you bought, the order or subscription status, and your licence key. Dodo Payments handles your data under its own privacy policy, available on dodopayments.com.

7. Service providers

We do not use analytics services, advertising networks, trackers or session recorders, and we do not sell or share your data for advertising. The extension contains no remote code: everything it runs ships inside the package.

8. Why we may process your data

If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, these are our legal bases under the GDPR:

• Performing our contract with you: sending your request to Gemini and returning the answer, counting your plan's limits, and managing a paid plan.
• Legitimate interests: preventing abuse with rate limits and the anonymous device identifier, keeping the service secure, and refusing requests from unsupported regions.
• Consent: feedback you choose to send, including your email if you give it, technical details if you leave them on, and the optional welcome question. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing us.
• Legal obligation: payment and tax records, which Dodo Payments keeps as merchant of record.

9. International transfers

ContextSnap is operated from Vietnam, and our providers process data in the United States and other countries. When your data moves outside your country, we rely on our providers' data processing terms, including the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses where they apply.

10. Limited Use disclosure

ContextSnap's use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

We use the data described above only to provide the feature you invoked; we do not transfer it to others except as needed to provide that feature, to comply with applicable law, or as part of a merger or acquisition; we do not use or transfer it for advertising of any kind; and we do not allow humans to read it, except with your explicit consent, for security purposes, to comply with applicable law, or where the data has been aggregated and anonymised.

11. Your choices and rights

• Stop everything: uninstall the extension. Chrome removes local settings and the device identifier.
• Keep web search off: it is off by default; you can check in Settings.
• Never grant clipboard access: the clipboard permission is optional. Declining it leaves everything else working.
• Delete your server-side records: email us your device identifier (shown in Settings) and we will delete the counters and records linked to it. For a paid plan, include your licence key or order number.
• Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your data, to object to or restrict processing, and to withdraw consent. Email thetristanlinh@gmail.com; we answer within 30 days.
• You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

12. Age requirement

ContextSnap is only for people aged 18 and older, as required by the terms of the Gemini API we use. It is not directed to anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a person under 18 has sent us data, email us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change what leaves your computer or what we keep, we will update this page and the date at the top before the new version of the extension ships. If you have a paid plan, we will also email you about material changes.

14. Contact

thetristanlinh@gmail.com. A person reads this and replies.
Pham To Linh, Vietnam

This page describes ContextSnap's technical behaviour and our commitments. It is not legal advice.