Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 24, 2026

SmartSnap ("we", "our", or "us") is an AI-powered Chrome extension that explains web pages you're reading, together with the Study Suite at smartsnap.io/study, where the material you save is stored and studied. This policy covers both, and explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

1. What We Collect

• Page text you choose to explain: When you turn on scanning and click a section (or click "Summarize This Page"), the text of that section (or the page's visible text, for summaries) is sent to our servers to generate an explanation. We do not capture screenshots or images of any kind.
• Device ID: An identifier issued by our server on first use and stored locally in your browser. It is sent with each request solely to enforce daily usage limits. If you are not signed in, it is a random value not linked to your identity. If you are signed in, it is derived from a one-way hash of your account ID, so your allowance follows your account rather than your browser.
• IP address: Seen by our servers when you make a request, and retained only in aggregate to prevent abuse of the free tier (for example, farming welcome credits by creating many accounts). It is not used to track browsing or linked to your identity.
• Email address: Collected if you create an account or sign in (with Google or with an email and password) to unlock the larger free allowance or to use a Pro subscription. Used to identify your account, verify your purchase, send you notifications about your own material (such as flashcards due for review, a syllabus finishing processing, or welcome credits about to expire), and send occasional updates about new SmartSnap features. Not shared with third parties, and never sold. Everything except account and billing essentials has a one-click unsubscribe link. If you created your account before the date at the top of this page, we will not send you marketing email unless you ask for it, because that was the promise when you signed up.
• Name and profile picture: If you sign in with Google, Google returns your name and profile picture along with your email address, and these are stored with your account by our authentication provider. SmartSnap does not display or use them, and does not share them.
• Usage counts: The number of explanations you've requested today, stored locally in your browser to display your usage bar. Also returned from our API to enforce plan limits.
• Content you save to your Study Suite: If you sign in and save something, we store it against your account so it is there when you come back. That covers snippets and pages you save while browsing, the explanations attached to them, notes and drafts you write, flashcards, quizzes and summaries you generate, and the classes you file them under.
• Files you upload: PDFs, Word files, slides, text files, and your syllabus, stored in our file storage under your account. If you upload audio or video from a recorded lecture, the file is stored the same way and its transcript is saved with it.
• Writing samples you choose: If you turn on writing voice matching, the notes or files you pick as samples are sent as context so edits and drafts come back in your own style. You choose each one, and you can remove any of them at any time.

2. What We Do Not Collect

• We do not capture screenshots or images of any page.
• We do not collect your address or payment details (payments are handled by Stripe). We never ask you for your name. If you sign in with Google, Google supplies it along with your email, and we simply store what it sends.
• We do not track your browsing history or monitor pages you visit.
• We do not run in the background. A page's content is only read when you turn scanning on, and text is only sent to our servers when you click a section or request a summary.
• We never record audio or video. SmartSnap has no microphone or screen access and does not ask for any. Lecture transcription works only on a file you upload yourself.
• We do not read your files. Documents you upload are stored for you and sent to our AI provider only when you ask for something that needs them.
• We do not sell, rent, or share your data with advertisers or third parties.

3. How We Use Your Data

• The text you click to explain, and the surrounding page text used as context, are sent to our AI API to generate explanations and summaries.
• Device IDs are used only for rate limiting (signed out: 5 credits per day; signed in: 20 per day plus a one-time welcome bonus; Pro: unlimited).
• If you sign in, we store a one-way hash of your account ID against your credit count. Signing in is optional. SmartSnap works without an account on the lower daily allowance.
• Email addresses are used to identify your account, verify an active Pro subscription, send notifications about your own saved material, and send occasional updates about new features. Unsubscribing from those never affects your account, your credits, or the receipts and account notices we have to send you.
• Course context: Material you file under a class, such as your syllabus, slides and notes, is searched for relevant passages when you ask a question in that class, and those passages are included with the request so the answer matches how your course teaches it. Only the passages that match are sent, not your whole library.
• Transcription: A lecture file you upload is sent to our AI provider's speech-to-text model to produce a transcript, which is then saved to your Study Suite as course material.
• Feedback on your work: A draft you ask us to check is sent with your rubric, if you provided one, so it can be assessed against it.

4. Data Storage & Retention

• Local storage: Device ID, usage counts, your signed-in email, the class you are currently saving to, and your settings (floating button visibility) are stored in your browser's local storage and never leave your device except as described above.
• Explanations you don't save: Page text sent for an explanation or summary is processed in memory and discarded immediately. It is never written to disk or logged, and we do not maintain long-term logs of your queries.
• Anything you save: Content you save to your Study Suite is stored until you delete it, because the whole point of saving it is that it is there later. Deleting a note, document, draft or class removes it from your account. Uploaded files are held in our file storage and are readable only under your own account.
• Supabase: Your account record, subscription status, saved study material and uploaded files all live in our Supabase project. You can delete individual items yourself, or request full deletion of your account and its contents at any time by emailing us.

5. Third-Party Services

• Stripe: Handles all payment processing. We never see or store your credit card details. Stripe's privacy policy: stripe.com/privacy.
• Supabase: Stores account and subscription data. Supabase's privacy policy: supabase.com/privacy.
• Vercel: Hosts our API. Function logs may contain request metadata for up to 7 days per Vercel's default retention.
• OpenAI: The page text you click to explain is processed by OpenAI's models to generate explanations and summaries, subject to OpenAI's API data usage policies. The same applies to course material used as context, drafts you ask for feedback on, and lecture files you upload, which are transcribed by OpenAI's speech-to-text model. OpenAI's privacy policy: openai.com/privacy.
• OpenAlex: The "Find sources" tool queries OpenAlex, an open catalogue of academic work, to return real citable papers. Your search wording is sent to them; your account and saved material are not. OpenAlex's privacy policy: openalex.org/privacy-policy.
• Google Analytics and Google Ads: Our website (smartsnap.io) uses Google Analytics to count visits and measure which pages lead to installs, and a Google Ads conversion tag that reports when a visit results in a sign-up or a subscription, so we can tell which ads are worth paying for. Both apply to the website only. What is reported is the fact that a step happened and its value to us, never your saved material or the pages you browse. The extension itself sends no analytics. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.

6. Sharing & Public Links

Your Study Suite is private to your account by default. Nothing you save is visible to anyone else unless you deliberately share it.

• Share links: You can create a public link to a flashcard deck, practice quiz or summary. Anyone holding that link can open and study it without an account, so treat it as public. The link is a long random token that cannot be guessed or enumerated, and only the set you shared is reachable through it, never the rest of your library.
• What travels with a shared set: The title and the cards, questions or summary text. Your email address and the rest of your account are not included.
• Stopping a share: Turning sharing off for a set makes the link stop working. We also count how many times a shared set has been opened, and show that count to you.

7. Permissions Explained

The Chrome extension requests the following permissions:

• Host permissions (all websites): SmartSnap works on any site rather than a fixed list of supported platforms, so it needs permission to run its page scanner wherever you choose to turn it on. Page content is only read locally in your browser to detect explainable sections; nothing is sent to our servers unless you click a section or request a summary.
• scripting: To load SmartSnap on your current tab from the toolbar popup (for tabs that were already open before install or update) and to display the highlight, bubble, and explanation popover on the page.
• storage: To save your device token, account email, usage count, the class you are saving to, and your settings locally in your browser.
• Connection from smartsnap.io: Signing in happens on our website rather than inside the extension, so the extension accepts a message from smartsnap.io containing the sign-in result. This is limited to our own domain, and it is why SmartSnap does not need Chrome's identity permission or access to your Google account.

The extension sends data only to smartsnap-api.vercel.app, and accepts a sign-in message only from smartsnap.io. Scanning is off on every page until you turn it on, every time. There is no setting that leaves it running, and you decide when SmartSnap looks at a page.

8. Children's Privacy

SmartSnap is designed as a learning tool and may be used by students. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. We collect only a random device ID (not linked to identity) and, optionally, an email for Pro activation.

9. Your Rights

• You can delete any note, document, draft, class, deck or quiz from your Study Suite yourself, at any time. Deleting a class does not delete what was filed under it unless you say so.
• You can clear your local extension data at any time via Chrome → Extensions → SmartSnap → Remove. That removes everything stored in your browser, but not material already saved to your account.
• To delete your account together with everything saved under it, including uploaded files, email us at the address below.
• You can turn off writing voice matching by removing your samples, which stops them being sent as context.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the extension evolves. Significant changes will be noted in the extension's update release notes. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

11. Contact

For privacy questions or data deletion requests, contact us at: privacy@smartsnap.io

SmartSnap is operated as an independent product. This policy applies to the SmartSnap Chrome extension, the smartsnap.io website, and the Study Suite.