Privacy policy

Single purpose

Easy Reader reads, manages, and annotates PDFs and long-form webpages selected by you in Chrome. Document contents and specific reading records remain on your device. Only after explicit consent, the extension sends coarse usage statistics with a random installation ID to understand new installations, effective reading, retention, feature use, and failures. The statistics can link actions from one installation, but contain no name, email address, Chrome account, or device identifier and are not used for advertising.

Data handled on your device

• Local PDFs you add, including filenames, sizes, and modification times.
• HTTPS URLs matching top-level PDF navigations, plus PDF URLs opened through the toolbar, shortcut, or context menu. PDF navigation may automatically open in Easy Reader; URLs and document contents are not sent to the developer or analytics services.
• After you click the extension, run its shortcut, or choose “Read this page with Easy Reader,” the article title, site name, language, structured text, image URLs, and captions extracted from the current HTTPS page. The extension does not continuously read ordinary webpages or extract passwords, forms, cookies, or login credentials.
• PDF titles, page counts, and outlines, plus highlights, pen strokes, bookmarks, page numbers, reading positions, and zoom preferences.
• Article notes and notes attached to highlights. Markdown exports are written to Downloads only after you choose export.
• Quote images you generate. Images are created locally and written to the clipboard or Downloads only after you choose the corresponding action.

Use, storage, and retention

Document data provides reading, the offline library, annotations, notes, bookmarks, resuming, quote images, and exports. Local PDFs and cleaned article snapshots are stored in the extension’s IndexedDB. Indexes, preferences, and specific reading records are kept in chrome.storage.local. They remain until you delete a document, clear extension data, uninstall, or the browser clears storage.

Online PDF requests go directly from your browser to your selected site without a developer-operated proxy or the site’s login cookies. Insecure HTTP PDFs are not supported. Article HTTPS images are requested directly from their hosts with a no-referrer policy; those hosts may process ordinary connection information under their own policies.

Optional usage analytics

Reporting is off by default. New installations open the library and privacy choice; reporting starts only after you select “Allow usage analytics.” Previous consent for a once-daily activity signal is not automatically extended to this more detailed reporting: renewed consent is required. Existing opt-out choices remain off. Declining or dismissing the dialog does not enable reporting or limit reading features. You can change your choice anytime in Privacy settings on the home page.

The extension relays these statistics through https://pdf.4o4.tech/api/extension-analytics to Google Analytics 4 only with consent:

• A random, resettable installation ID, extension version, event name and time, and a session ID renewed after about 30 minutes of inactivity.
• A fixed extension source label, page categories (library, PDF reader, article reader), content categories (PDF or article; Wikipedia or other), and fixed entry categories such as toolbar, context menu, shortcut, automatic PDF handoff, import, or library resume. No site domain or original document URL is included.
• Reader opening, first effective reading, activity, feature attempts and outcomes, fixed feature names and error categories, operation counts, a local library-size range, and bounded loading and foreground reading times. Features include highlighting, pen, erasing, undo, bookmarks, contents, zoom, reading styles, notes, highlight notes, quote images, Markdown export, and library actions.
• A randomly generated operation ID linking one attempt and its outcome. It contains no document ID or content.

Foreground reading time accrues only while a reader is visible and focused, and pauses after sustained inactivity. This is behavioral data, not page numbers, positions, or reading contents. First effective use records the first qualifying reading duration or core action after consent. Installation events apply only to genuine new installations whose users consent within 72 hours; they do not represent all store downloads or individual people. Reading and actions before consent are not retrospectively reported.

Analytics never contains PDFs, article snapshots, titles, filenames, URLs, domains, document text, image contents, highlight text, note or annotation contents, selections, bookmark names, searches, document IDs, specific reading positions, or raw error messages. Counts and outcomes may be sent; the contents produced by those actions stay local.

Pending events are stored locally in a queue of up to 100 events for at most 72 hours and retried when connectivity or use resumes. Turning reporting off stops collection and sending, deletes the local installation ID, session, queue, and related analytics state, and attempts to cancel requests in progress. A request already sent may have reached the server. Enabling reporting again creates a new random ID. Disabling or uninstalling does not automatically delete previously received GA4 records; historical records follow the property’s retention settings and Google’s terms.

The relay validates allowed fields and forwards them to GA4 without intentionally storing documents or request contents. Google processes statistics under its terms and privacy policy. Relay, hosting, and network providers may process IP addresses, request times, and ordinary connection information in operational or security logs. The extension does not send an IP address as an event field or link it to document contents or original URLs. Statistics are used only to improve plugin quality and features, not for advertising, credit assessment, or cross-service profiling.

Data sharing

Easy Reader does not sell user data or allow the developer to read user documents. The extension transfers only the restricted usage statistics described above to Google Analytics 4 after explicit consent. If you send quote images, Markdown, or other exports to another app, that app’s privacy terms apply.

Permission use

• storage: saves the document index, article snapshots, annotations, bookmarks, preferences, specific reading progress, analytics choice, random IDs, and pending events.
• alarms: periodically wakes the analytics queue for retries, attempting to send only with consent and without reading document contents.
• unlimitedStorage: keeps PDFs and formatted article snapshots you add in the offline library without silent loss due to small default quotas.
• activeTab: identifies the current PDF or article tab when you click the extension or run its shortcut.
• scripting: runs the packaged article extractor only when you open article mode, producing bounded structured text, titles, and image URLs without remote code.
• contextMenus: provides the “Open PDF with Easy Reader” and “Read this page with Easy Reader” menus.
• webNavigation: detects top-level PDF navigations so direct PDF addresses can automatically open in Easy Reader.
• HTTPS and file:// access: reads and renders matching PDFs and reads a current HTTPS article after you open article mode. Local file access must also be enabled in Chrome’s extension details. The extension does not continuously monitor browsing history or upload PDF or article contents.

Easy Reader’s use of information received from Chrome APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Security

The extension uses Manifest V3, a restrictive content security policy, locally packaged PDF.js, credential-free HTTPS requests, PDF file and resource bounds, and bounded article extraction rendered with safe DOM APIs. The release package does not load or execute remote code. The GA4 API secret remains on the relay server and is absent from extension packages.

User controls and contact

You can remove individual documents and their reading records from the library, turn off analytics and delete local analytics IDs and pending events in Privacy settings, clear extension data, or uninstall. For privacy questions or help handling or deleting previously reported statistics, use the developer support email on the Easy Reader Chrome Web Store listing. Turning off reporting does not itself delete historical GA4 records.

When this policy changes, its effective date and Chrome Web Store disclosures will be updated. Material changes will be prominently explained before processing, with any required consent obtained.

Website analytics

The public Easy Reader website separately uses Google Analytics 4 for page visits and Vercel Web Analytics for aggregate page-view reporting. Website analytics is separate from the extension’s opt-in choice. Public page URLs, referrers, general browser or device details, and approximate location may be processed by these services under their terms; Vercel Web Analytics does not use third-party cookies. Website analytics is not linked to PDFs, article contents, notes, or original document URLs in the extension. Hosting and network providers may process ordinary connection information for security and operation.