Privacy Policy — Collections Plus

Last updated: 2026-10-13

Collections Plus is a local-first browser extension with a companion mobile web app at https://getcollectionsplus.com/app/. Both are designed so that your data stays on your own devices. This policy explains exactly what the extension, the mobile web app and the getcollectionsplus.com website do and do not do with your information.

The short version

• We collect nothing. There is no account, no analytics, and no telemetry, and your collections never pass through a server operated by the developer.
• Your data lives in your browser's local storage on your device.
• Nothing is ever transmitted to the developer.
• One automatic exception: a lightweight recovery copy of your collections is saved to your browser's built-in account-synced storage so your library can be restored if the extension is ever reset or reinstalled. This is handled by your browser (Google for Chrome, Microsoft for Edge) under its own privacy policy and tied to your browser account, never to the developer. See Automatic recovery backup below.
• Beyond that, data only leaves your device when you turn on an optional feature: cross-device sync (a file in your own cloud folder), offline image caching (fetching images you saved), or the AI chat (sending the collections you choose to the AI provider you configured). Each is off until you enable it, and none of them route through the developer.
• The mobile web app keeps your library in your phone's browser. If you connect Dropbox, it syncs directly between your phone and your own Dropbox. See The mobile web app below.

What data the extension stores

When you save items, Collections Plus stores the following locally on your device via chrome.storage.local:

• Pages you save (URL, title, favicon, and an optional preview thumbnail).
• Images and notes you save.
• Collections, folders, tags, custom fields, and your settings.

This data never leaves your device unless you explicitly export it or turn on optional sync (see below), aside from the automatic recovery backup described next.

Automatic recovery backup

To protect against losing your collections if the browser wipes the extension's local storage — for example when a browser update resets your extensions — the extension keeps a lightweight recovery copy of your data in the browser's built-in account-synced storage (chrome.storage.sync). This is on by default and updates automatically in the background.

• What's included: collection titles, links (URLs), notes, tags, folders, folder colors, and item done-state — the structure of your library.
• What's excluded: heavy content such as cached images, saved page snapshots and thumbnails, and your settings and AI API key are not part of this backup.
• Where it goes: into your own browser account's sync storage, which the browser (Google for Chrome, Microsoft for Edge) replicates across your signed-in devices under its privacy policy. It is never sent to the developer, who still runs no server and receives nothing.
• Size limits: the browser caps this storage at roughly 100 KB, so for a large library only your most-recent collections are kept in the recovery copy (the extension tells you when this happens). For a complete backup, use the optional cross-device sync below.
• Restore: if your local data is ever empty (for example after an extension reset), the recovery copy is restored automatically.

Optional features that touch the network or filesystem

These are off by default and only do anything if you turn them on:

• Cross-device sync. If you enable it, the extension reads and writes a single JSON file that you place in a folder your own cloud client (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, etc.) already syncs. The extension uses the browser's File System Access API to read/write that one file on your disk. The file holds your library (including your auto-file rules) and, so that deletions carry over between devices, a list of recently deleted items: just each item's internal ID and when it was deleted, kept for 90 days. The developer never sees this file; only your chosen cloud service handles it, under that service's own privacy policy.
• Offline image caching. If you enable it, the extension downloads images you save (from the page they came from) so they survive the source going offline, and stores a downscaled copy locally. These requests go directly from your browser to the image's origin server — not to the developer.
• Fetch missing images. When you click "Fetch missing images" (on a collection, on a single item, or "Fetch all missing images" in settings), the extension fetches the saved page's HTML to read its preview image (og:image/twitter:image), then downloads that image and stores a downscaled copy locally. This is the way to add pictures to pages imported from a CSV, which arrive without them. It only runs when you click, requests go directly from your browser to the pages and image servers you saved (not to the developer, and without sending your cookies), and by default it only fills in pages that have no image yet.
• AI chat (bring your own provider). If you open AI settings and enter an API key, the extension can chat with your collections. When you send a chat message, the extension sends your message and the contents of the collection(s) in scope (titles, URLs, notes, tags, and custom fields — all the data of the collection you're chatting about, or of every collection if you chose the "all collections" scope) directly from your browser to the AI provider you selected (e.g. Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Google, Azure, or a local Ollama server). That provider processes the request under its own privacy policy and terms — review them before enabling this. Your API key is stored locally in chrome.storage.local, is never synced and never included in exports or backups, and the developer never receives your key, your messages, or your collections. This feature is off until you configure it, and no data is sent to any AI provider unless you actively send a chat message.

The mobile web app

The mobile web app at https://getcollectionsplus.com/app/ runs in your phone's browser and works like the extension: your data stays on your device unless you choose to sync it.

• Where your data lives: your collections are stored in your browser's storage for getcollectionsplus.com (IndexedDB) on your phone. They are never sent to the developer. Clearing the site's data in your browser, or uninstalling the app, deletes this copy.
• Dropbox sync (optional): if you tap Connect Dropbox, you sign in on Dropbox's own page, and Dropbox asks you to approve access. The app can only reach its own folder (Dropbox/Apps/ followed by the app's folder name), not the rest of your Dropbox, and it reads and writes one file there: collections-sync.json, the same sync file described under Cross-device sync above. Requests go directly from your browser to Dropbox, under Dropbox's privacy policy, never through the developer.
• Your Dropbox sign-in: the access tokens Dropbox issues are stored only in your browser on that device. The developer never receives them. Disconnect in the app revokes access and deletes them from the device, and you can also revoke access at any time in your Dropbox account settings under Connected apps.

The website and hosting

The getcollectionsplus.com website, including the mobile web app's files, is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel receives standard technical information when your browser requests a page, such as your IP address and browser type, and handles it under Vercel's privacy policy. The site adds no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies of its own.

Accounts are planned for an optional paid sync service, Plus Sync, and are not open yet. Before they open, this policy will be updated to explain what an account stores and who processes it.

How permissions are used

• Host access (<all_urls>) is used to read the title and preview image of a page you choose to save, to capture a screenshot thumbnail of the page you're viewing when you save it, (if you enable caching) to fetch images you save, (when you click "Fetch missing images") to fetch a saved page and its preview image, and (if you enable AI chat) to send your request to the AI provider's API endpoint you configured. It is not used to monitor your browsing.
• Tabs / scripting are used to read the current page's title/URL and extract its preview image when you save it.
• Storage / unlimited storage hold your collections and cached images locally, and keep the lightweight recovery copy (see Automatic recovery backup) in your browser account's synced storage.

Data sharing

The developer does not sell, share, or transmit your data to anyone, and runs no backend service that receives your collections. Your data leaves your device only in these ways, none of which route through the developer: automatically, the lightweight recovery copy saved to your browser account's synced storage (see Automatic recovery backup); and, when you enable them, your cloud provider's synced folder (cross-device sync), your own Dropbox (mobile web app sync), or the AI provider whose key you entered (AI chat). In each case the data goes from your browser straight to that party (your browser vendor, your cloud service, Dropbox, or your chosen AI provider), never through the developer.

Children's privacy

Collections Plus is a general-purpose productivity tool and does not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

Any changes will be published in this file in the project's public repository.

Contact

Questions? Open an issue at https://github.com/rod-trent/Collections-Plus/issues.