VocabSeek — Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 8, 2026

Overview

VocabSeek is a language learning browser extension and PWA. We respect your privacy and collect only the minimum data needed to provide our services. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers.

Data We Collect

• Google account info (email, display name, profile photo) — used for sign-in and cloud sync via Firebase Authentication.
• Vocabulary cards (words, translations, example sentences, source URLs) — stored in Firebase Firestore for cloud sync between devices.
• User preferences (native language, learning language, font style, TTS settings) — stored locally via Chrome Storage and optionally synced to Firestore.
• YouTube subtitle text — temporarily sent to OpenAI API for vocabulary extraction. Not stored on our servers.
• Selected text for translation — sent to Google Translate (free tier) or OpenAI API (Pro tier) for translation. Not stored on our servers.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to provide our features:

• Firebase (Google) — Authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Functions, Hosting, Cloud Messaging. Firebase Privacy Policy
• Google Translate API — Free-tier translation. Google Privacy Policy
• OpenAI API — Pro-tier AI translation and example sentence generation. OpenAI Privacy Policy
• Microsoft Edge TTS / FreeTTS — Text-to-speech audio generation. Audio is generated on-demand and not stored.
• LemonSqueezy — Payment processing for Pro subscriptions. LemonSqueezy Privacy Policy

If you bring your own API key (Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Grok, OpenAI, Anthropic), your text is sent directly to those providers under their respective privacy policies. Your API keys are stored locally only and never transmitted to our servers.

Data Storage

• Local storage (Chrome Storage API): settings, vocabulary cards, API keys. Stays on your device.
• Cloud storage (Firebase Firestore): vocabulary cards and settings, synced when you sign in with Google. Stored in Google Cloud infrastructure.

Data Retention & Deletion

• You can delete individual vocabulary cards at any time from the extension or PWA.
• You can sign out to stop cloud sync.
• To delete all your cloud data, contact us at akari.miyazaki.official@gmail.com and we will remove your Firestore data within 30 days.
• Uninstalling the extension removes all local data.

Permissions Explained

• storage — Save your settings and vocabulary cards locally.
• activeTab / scripting — Inject translation UI on the current page when you select text.
• contextMenus — Add "Read Selected Text" to right-click menu.
• tts — Text-to-speech for reading words aloud.
• identity — Google sign-in for cloud sync.
• declarativeNetRequest / webRequest — Intercept YouTube subtitle requests for vocabulary extraction.

Children's Privacy

VocabSeek is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at akari.miyazaki.official@gmail.com.