Privacy Policy
Effective October 13, 2026
EchoWords is a local-first Chrome extension for saving words you select from web pages, visible YouTube captions, and PDF selections.
Data stored on your device
EchoWords stores saved words, nearby article text or visible caption context, source titles and URLs, capture times, YouTube video IDs and timestamps, optional Traditional or Simplified Chinese translations of English words, English translations of Chinese words, and your edits. Vocabulary and local review dates, intervals, and counts are stored in IndexedDB in your current Chrome profile.
Collection, translation, and sharing
EchoWords does not send captured content, vocabulary, browsing history, or usage data to a developer server, analytics provider, advertising service, or other third party. It does not require an account or read or monitor your clipboard.
EchoWords’s use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. It uses this information only to provide the vocabulary features described here.
After you choose a Chinese target language for English words, EchoWords uses Chrome’s built-in Translator API to translate saved English words into Chinese and saved Chinese words into English on your device. Your Chinese target-language preference is stored in localStorage in this Chrome profile. EchoWords does not make a translation network request or use a remote AI provider. Chrome may download and manage the required language packs.
Exports happen only when you choose an export action. Chrome saves the JSON file under your control. Export for iPhone contains only words and their corresponding translations (English for Chinese words, or your selected Chinese language for English words); Export JSON contains full backup records. EchoWords does not upload exports to Google Drive or another service. When you choose Import backup, EchoWords reads only the file you select, merges valid records into local IndexedDB, and does not upload the file.
Chrome permissions
activeTabandscriptingread your explicit selection after you invoke the capture shortcut on an ordinary web page.- Access to
https://www.youtube.com/*reads only captions currently rendered on screen and preserves video playback state. contextMenusprovides a user-triggered PDF selection capture action.offscreenlets a hidden extension document read the saved localStorage language preference and run on-device translation after capture, even when the vocabulary page is closed.
EchoWords does not download complete YouTube transcripts or automatically collect page content.
Retention and deletion
Data remains in your Chrome profile until you delete individual words, clear the extension’s site data, remove the extension, or delete the browser profile. Removing the extension or profile may permanently remove saved data. You can create a full local backup with Export JSON.
Changes to this policy
If EchoWords later adds network sync, accounts, analytics, or other data use, this policy and the extension’s permissions will be updated before that feature is released.