VocabCatcherVocabCatcher Privacy Policy
Effective September 27, 2026 · Applies to the VocabCatcher Chrome extension (ID gigaanmpffnhjdlagcjglobjgochjojm)
VocabCatcher helps you learn English words and phrases from the videos you watch and the pages you read. This policy explains what the extension handles, where it goes, and the choices you have. In short: your word list lives in your browser; it goes to the cloud only if you sign in to sync, and then only you can read it. We do not sell data, show ads, or use analytics.
1. Stored in your browser
Everything below stays in your browser's extension storage (chrome.storage.local) unless you turn on sync:
- Words and phrases you save, their translations, notes, favorites, and review schedule.
- Where you met each saved word: the sentence or caption line, and either the YouTube video ID and the second it was said, the Prime Video title and time, or the page address (origin and path only; query strings and
#parts are never kept) and title. - Dictionary details for your saved words and a short cache of recent lookups.
- Your settings.
2. Sent to services to make features work
| Service | What is sent | Why |
|---|---|---|
Google Translate (translate.googleapis.com) | The word, phrase, or text you select; the caption lines of a video while VocabCatcher captions are on; and, in Media on the website, the lines of the subtitle file you add | To show translations |
Free Dictionary API (api.dictionaryapi.dev) | A single English word you look up | Definitions, examples, pronunciation |
Datamuse (api.datamuse.com) | A single English word you look up; on the website, your saved English words one at a time, and one of them as a starting point for Explore | Word frequency level, your estimated vocabulary level, related words to explore |
OpenSubtitles (api.opensubtitles.com) | Only when you use Media and subtitles online: the video's OpenSubtitles hash (a 16-character fingerprint computed on your device), the title, year or episode read from the file name, and the subtitle you choose to download. Never the video. | To find subtitles made for your video |
Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org) | A single English word, only when the first dictionary has no answer (website) | Backup definitions |
These requests contain only the text being translated or looked up. VocabCatcher does not attach your identity to them. Each service handles requests under its own privacy policy.
On YouTube, VocabCatcher reads the caption file the page already downloads, inside your browser, to show interactive captions. It does not send your viewing history anywhere.
Media (website). A video you open in Media is played directly from your device and is never uploaded. Its subtitles, their translation and where you stopped are stored only in your browser (IndexedDB) so you can continue later; remove a video from “Continue watching” to delete them. Only the subtitle lines are sent to Google Translate, as described above.
3. Optional sync with your Google account
Sync is off until you choose Sign in with Google in Settings. When you sign in:
- Google sign-in (Firebase Authentication by Google) receives your Google account ID and email address to create your account. VocabCatcher never sees your password.
- Cloud storage (Google Cloud Firestore) keeps a copy of your saved words: the word, translation, status, review schedule, favorite flag, note, and where you met it (as described in section 1). Dictionary details are not uploaded.
- Your data is stored in a folder that only your signed-in account can read or change. This is enforced by the database's security rules.
- Sign-in tokens are kept in the extension's storage so sync can continue in the background. Sign out removes them and stops sync; your words stay on the device.
4. Learning time and the leaderboard
VocabCatcher counts active learning time: while a word bubble is open (up to 90 seconds per word), a review from opening to grading (up to 2 minutes), and while you actively use the extension window or the website. Watching a video without interacting is not counted. Each device keeps its own total, stored in your private cloud folder when you are signed in, together with a daily tally for the last 40 days (minutes, successful reviews, stage-ups and explore points per date) that powers the streak and the weekly and monthly leaderboards.
The leaderboard is optional. Only if you choose Join on the website can other signed-in learners see the name you choose, your Google profile photo (if you keep it on), your points and level, total learning time, number of successful reviews, active days and streak, and how many words you are learning and have mastered. Your words themselves are never shown. To compute points and streaks, each device also stores in your private folder the number of successful reviews and the dates (not times) on which you studied, for the last 60 days. The leaderboard has all-time, monthly and weekly views. Leave the leaderboard removes your entries for everyone immediately.
5. What VocabCatcher does not do
- It does not collect your browsing history. Page addresses are stored only for words you choose to save, and only without query strings.
- It does not sell, rent, or share your data with advertisers or data brokers.
- It does not use your data for advertising, profiling, or creditworthiness, or for any purpose unrelated to learning vocabulary.
- It contains no analytics or tracking code and loads no remote code.
6. Keeping and deleting your data
- Data in your browser stays until you delete words, clear the extension's data, or uninstall the extension.
- Synced words stay in your cloud folder until you delete them. Deleting a word keeps a small deletion marker (the word and the time) so your other computers remove it too.
- To delete everything stored in the cloud for your account, contact us at the address below and we will erase it.
- You can export all your words at any time (Settings → Import & export).
7. Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.
8. Contact
Questions or deletion requests: waleed1667@gmail.com